Make Yourself Useful
by I hate the computer
Summary: Joey hates two people, Seto Kaiba and his father. Both he is forced to deal with everyday. Also he can't seem to pass a test, his boss wouldn't leave him alone, and the bills won't pay themselves! He lives his life on very thin margins of error, so who will be his rescuer when he crosses that line?
1. Chapter 1

"Make yourself useful and get me a fucking beer." My father orders from his bedroom as I come in the door from work around 10:30 at night. Beer bottles cover the kitchen floor, a few broken with the glass just sitting there. A rotten steak, that I know he paid a good 20 bucks for, just marinates in it's own juices directly on the kitchen counter. He buys steak, yet when I look for bread we don't have any. Dishes fester mould in the sink.

What I want to say is get your own damn beer or better idea, don't drink one. Your pathetic excuse of a paycheck doesn't cover the costs you know, nor does it cover the 20-buck steak that you let go rotten. Instead I bit my tongue and open the door to our half-broken fridge for a beer, not that we have much else. I grab one of the many in our fridge, open it on one of the kitchen drawer handles, and go over to his bedroom.

I find him leaning against the backboard of his iron bed with a cigarette in one hand. His brow is still lined with sweat, and his stringy dirty blond hair sticks to his face. Aki Izayoi, the teenager from downstairs, lies on his very built chest, twirling his chest hair around her index finger. Her bleach blond hair is in knots. Smeared make up covers her face as well as another substance that I can only guess what it is. Bit marks pepper his neck and shoulders. She smiles up at my father. My father eyes the beer in my hand.

The only luck I have is that they're covered waist down by my father's threadbare sheets with burn holes in them. My father puts out the cigarette on his side table, just adding to the many burn mark. Then slips into one of the bottle in the beer bottle forest around his bed. I carefully step over the, at points, mostly full bottles to place in his outstretched hand his beer. He takes a long wet gulp from the bottle. I turn to leave.

"Your sister called, she's coming this weekend." He says from behind me.

"hm." I grunt back.

I have three days to clean this place to almost respectable, fun. Not that she'll actually stay, but in the chance that she'll come up I don't really want her to know just how gross this place is normally. Serenity a 13-year-old full of energy, life, bright as hell kid, and someone that doesn't know the term "mean" for real. A bit of a cry-baby when we were kids, but she got over that pretty fast when our parents divorced, and boys stopped thinking girls have cooties. She lives with our mother in the next town over in the most middle class home I've personally ever seen, but why she ever wants come to this trash heap is something I can never fathom. I clean most of night and don't look forward to school.

I can't even find some haven at school, minus that I'm a terrible student, because of fucking Seto Kiaba. He's popular and well liked, in spite of being anti-social to the extreme and having an air of arrogance to him that I find so annoying. But it's mutual, I'm not his favourite person, but he can get away with his insults, arrogance, anti-social behaviours because he's rich, extremely intelligent, beyond handsome, and athletic. Bastard.

"Joey." I hear from behind me, a small voice, high pitched. "Do anything amazing yesterday?" Yugi, my oldest and best friend, shy, childish, my sister loves him and finds irresistibly adorable, but when given a problem he'll listen. But I can't get my self to tell him anything; he has his own problems. His grandfather, a fabulous old man, is in the hospital. Plus Yugi looks like he hasn't gone to sleep in three days. Much to the unfortunate of his boyfriend, whose job it is keep Yugi mostly unharmed. But by the slightly darker spot on Yugi's neck, there are a few more benefits as well. Three years, no one can say anything about it.

"Nope, nothing. My sister is coming this weekend, be prepared. Yourself?"

"Grandfather is getting better, he should be home this weekend too." He say barely containing his excitement.

"I'll tell her, but be prepared for dinner and cookies to be made then."

"I wouldn't mind having dinner taken off my hands for a night." chimes in Yami, taking the seat in front of me. I smile, understatement of the century.

He's overwhelmed with life right now. From Yugi's grandfather to school to sports, he's just glad that money isn't an issue right now. Even knowing that, I'm jealous of him. Yugi would do anything for him, and Yami anything for Yugi. They can be completely honest with the other, and I have this feeling that they have some idea of what love actually means. In my experience, that isn't something I see very often in high school. Plus, everything thinks it's adorable that the first and second rated duellists in the world are dating each other.

"I hear your sisters coming, I also hear there is a movie out that's popular." Duke Devlin said, taking the seat behind me. Duke, not a bad guy really, just I think he's gay for Tristan.

"Only if she asks, and she hasn't." I reply back.

"Far enough, But I will, oh I will." He said turning to his bag to get ready for the day. Tea came in the door, one of Yugi's better friends and ex-crush. Not to mention one of the hottest girls in school and very well endowed. She has Mia Valentine by her side, the hottest girl school in my opinion. Not that the general male population doesn't agree. Blond locks, double D's, long legs, perfect hourglass shape, but don't let the beauty make you think that she's an idiot. Student council vice, single digit ranked duellist, also kind but will not let anyone mess with her. I already know she's out of my league!

Yet another aspect that Kaiba is better than me at, dating. He, of course, has the person I want. Life doesn't work any other way. Right then, Kaiba comes in after them and take the seat beside me, assigned seats are not my friend. Mia takes a seat on my desk, her skirt slighting riding up.

"How's my favourite puppy doing?" She says turning to me.

"Has he been getting enough puppy chow?" Kaiba says from his seat opening his laptop.

Ignoring the comment, "Fine, my sister's coming up this weekend." I knew she'd be happy about that; she absolutely loves my sister.

"Tea, we're going shopping this weekend and Joey's sister coming." She declares.

"Good, I've been needing a new black dress."

"I can think of someone else that does." He says with out looking up from his computer, he had such a smug look on his face. What I'd do not to get sued for punching him in the face and preferably breaking his nose.

"Yet I bet I'd look better then you."

"I'm not the one that would be wearing it, now would I." I got myself into that one now didn't I. Damn it.

"Be nice would you, Seto, at least when I'm around." Mai says, kisses Kaiba goodbye and runs off before the bell rings.

Class is dull as hell, side angle side my ass. Who cares if that triangle is similar or congruent to that triangle, like seriously? Whatever Greek dude thought this was good idea was seriously on something, and probably doing his servant, but that doesn't really have anything to do with math. Unless those guys really got off that stuff.

Next period is history, and we get our tests back at the end of the period. 56, I knew I did better. I spent many hours pouring over book on ancient Egyptian . I look over at Yami's and Yugi's, come on I was expecting better, a 96 and 95 on ancient Egyptian mythologies. And Seto with his curving creating...97, not, wait who made the curve this time?

"Yami, get your act together. 96, that's practically failing." He hides his test, didn't have to get defensive.

"And what did you get?"

"56, failing. But who got the highest?"

"Tea. How did you fail this?"

"I have no clue, but I did. Also, Tea?" This means that I failed the quarter by I think 5 points, my father will have more to yell at me about, my mom will have something else that is wrong with me.

"Mutt, can I see your answer sheet." Kaiba asks. I give it him and turn back to Yugi.

"So where are you going for lunch, and can I mooch?"

"Fine, I still don't understand where your money goes. Illicit activity isn't your thing." Yugi a lot of places that is why I am broke right now.

The bell rings for lunch, a what a sweet sound. The day is half over and I'm hungry, we didn't have anything for breakfast. Our milk's bad, we lack a box of cereal, and dinner didn't have any leftovers. I was in a sorry fix. The worst part is that I don't paid until Friday, thank god for that, but I have no money as of now. If I'm ever rich and famous remind me to really give something back to Yugi, whatever I can because he definably deserves it, like seriously. The rest of the school is very, very, boring. Who cares what "I am a Cat," says, or the metaphor of whatnot? I have work after school, a cute little cafe that doesn't make much money. I actually have no idea how it stays open sort of way.

The café is stationed inside a grand brick Victorian house that looks a lot like a dollhouse. Even has a wrap around porch with white hand railings. Everything is pretty well preserved. All the original moulding, stained glassed windows in the foyer, and the hardwood floor seemed to have lasted the test of the time. It even has a small garden out front and a vastly larger garden in back. The walls could use a paint job if I am being really pedantic.

I go to the back of the café part of the house to change, the owners also live here. I change into jeans, t-shirt and an apron for work. A few people sit at the wooden tables around the cafe with mugs of coffees, a few college students have curled up in the comfortable chairs with books. I go behind the heavy wooden counter, stick my english homework under counter and go about checking everything. Since no on is waiting for the anything. I make sure the weirdly expensive espresso maker has beans; the coffee pot has coffee and the syrups are all full. Then I take a seat on the stool and start to do my English homework, since I have nothing else to do for now. Not before checking one more time. I glance around the café. All the tables are cleaned, the rugs don't need to be vacuumed, and the windows don't need to be cleaned. So everything seems to be fine.

Ryou was not in school today now was he? Probably Bakura was sick, which makes sense since he didn't look all that well yesterday. Ryou never stays home if he is, but Bakura he'll drop anything to take care him. I still can't decide if the dynamic is unhealthy or not. Bakura is head over heels in love with Ryou, cliché as that sounds. He has not gotten attested since they've started to date, and is giving Ryou a steady income from duelling. Even took him to England last break. But healthy? I don't know.

Halfway though my shift the husband of the owners comes out and sits on the stools, he is that fat, near the counter. He picks his ears, examines the wax that comes off them and wipes it on his shirt, with the other bits of yellowy wax. His shirt is even black, come on.

"My wife is getting more dressed up then normal and going out more often. I mean I find our marriage perfectly happy." I can see his teeth, unbrushed and flossed, and bits of food in he beard move when he talks. His fat jiggles. Him and his wife issues, I sigh.

"Chaze Princeton, just talk about with her. If she's unhappy, ask her." He leaves after a little puttering around on in his walker. Some more customers come in, buy a few other things and leave. I close up and go home, not before stealing the old scones that went unsold that day.

My father is passed out on the couch, many beers around him and used condoms. I take a scone, a glass of water, and go to my room. My room smells of piss, and semen. A few of my books are out of the place. I pushed them back to the original disorder and I lift the blankets off my bed. One stop is darker then rest, I almost puke, but realized that would make my room smell worse.


	2. Chapter 2

I take the sheet and blanket off my bed, debating if rubber gloves are necessary in this situation and throwing them in the laundry basket and stick them in the washer, five flights below our apartment. Tonight will again be fun. My father still isn't home when I get back to from the basement; it seems to be my lucky day. He's off gambling away child support and buying beers for girls that aren't legal. Ever think that sleeping with questionably 18 year olds is disgusting.

I do the dishes in the sink first, dry them and put them away. Then realize, I am faced with the momentous task of actually cleaning this kitchen. Dirty containers, some festering mould, and the ever-present beer bottles laminate the cheap plastic countertops, sticky residue persistently everywhere. Bugs fly around the shit like vultures, some stopping to have a taste. Normally I find them under my desk tomorrow. I salvage the plates and cups I can, throwing them into a bath of bleach and water. But a few are more mould then container, luckily mom took everything that might even be considered nice. The last thing in the garbage is a rotten 20-dollar steak, yes, sitting right on the counter, since nothing was clean. Then I douse every horizontal surface of our kitchen with bleach and water, hoping, to no avail maybe, that the kitchen may be smell like a human lives here.

The wall and cabinets comes next. Pasta sauces, margarine, oil, and a few substances that I can't seem identity for the life of me. Probably some alcohol concoction that my father thought would be really tasty. Fortunately, with my bleach and water combination takes almost everything off, which reveal water-damaged walls. A shard of paint falls on the clean counters. The walls need a paint job, but our landlord says that it is not in our contract for him to do that. So, I hope that Serenity wouldn't mind. She hasn't been in the house in a while, since she ends up sleeping at Mai's anyways.

Next are our floors. Broken glasses, crumbs, cans, and beer bottles cover them. After putting the beer bottles in neat order and cans in recycles, I get our vacuum. It's almost ten years old and, with age, has turned a puce colour. One vacuum, I get maybe a third, twice, another third, third time, most of the rest of it. I'll redo it on Thursday night.

I go to get my laundry; my father is still not back from his tirade and the clock in the kitchen strikes 12 in the morning.

The living room is a biohazard. My father doesn't know the words laundry basket, even after un-sticking his clothes; there is the couch to worry about. There is vomit, urine and semen that created a crust on our couch, and to break through that crust involves, again, bleach. I don't think bed bugs even live it in, to be honest. I should just throw it away, but the process will only repeat. The clock strikes 2 in the morning. I'll get the rest tomorrow after work, but I guess math homework will wait until homeroom. I hope the Serenity find it liveable.

I wake up to female screams, goddamn it again. The walls of my bedroom rattle slightly, and the few springs that work in our couch creak. He must have found another anorexic, drug ridden, teenager to fuck. The screams are not Aki's, they calm down after about five more minutes. Small whimpers take their place, a few whispers and finally load snores, before I go back to sleep.

My head feels like it's been run over by an 18-wheeler, fuck. I slam off the alarm and take a shower, which does wonders for the headache. I find out the reason for my headache when I walk into the tiny living room, the smell of urea, methane and bleach suffocate me. I gag, at the smell and the sight of my father naked body asleep in his own filth on the couch. The girl that he fucked hurriedly pulls her shirt over her overly skinny body, her make up smeared, clothes wrinkled and looking me wide-eyed.

"Sorry, you're not going to get any money from us. Scone?" I say in monotone while holding out a scone for her. She takes it and wolfs it down. While I take a seat on the floor, and eat the other one.

"You'd better leave before my father wakes up." She nods and scuttles out the door and out of the clutches of my father. She's one of many, some scream and call me a rapist, some steal, some don't, one ever maced me. My father has yet to wake up to these early morning exchanges, as much as I really just want to kick him awake. The time that girl maced all he said was get my ass to school.

The first thing I see when I walk in the classroom is Seto and Mia, Seto on his computer while Mia is jabbering away to Tea, does he have to rub salt in the wound? I take my seat and my math homework, ask Mia for her calculator and commence really boring math homework.

"He seems that he was to busy scratching from fleas." He smirks, I open my mouth to reply, but Mia turns and asks

"Want to go to lunch? On me. Since it's my offer." Before I can reply to Seto.

"Sure."

She smiles and leaves when the bell rings. I watch her leave; sometimes I'm really pathetic.

I half hope that no one else is invited, but I know it's a pipe dream, to put it lightly. And that pipe dream is not realized today as Tea hops on top of Mia desk at the beginning of lunch.

"So, where to? The normal works for me." Mia, Seto and I nod in agreement.

Our normal is a dimly lit little hamburger restaurant, with paintings all around the place. Yami, Yugi, Tristan, and Duke used to come, with the occasional appearance of Ryou, Bakura has yet to really believe us about not hating his guts, but they always have lunch their significant other or go to the movie room to high jack the gaming systems.

I take a seat next to Tea, and order my burger. Mia and Tea blather about fashion and the newest celebrity gossip. Leaving Seto and I, since neither of us had anything to add to their conversation, are on our own devices in conversation. So, we don't talk, until our food comes and I wolf down my burger. Seto cuts his burger with a knife and fork.

"Nice table manners." He says, smirk included. Could he shut up and stop be so fucking arrogant. It's not like Seto created his company from scratch.

"And who ever heard of eating a burger with a knife and fork, moneybags?"

Mia intervenes,

"Joey, do you want the rest. I'm full."

I grab it and devour it, then wipe off the ketchup that got on my hands.

"No thank you?" Ok, I'll admit, that one was almost legit, but awkwardly motherly.

"Sorry, thanks. Also, I didn't know that my mother is male." I know I'm slightly blushing at my inclination to feed myself than to say thank you to whom ever is feeding me.

The check comes and, as the agreement was reached, Mia pays my part of the tab. I'm flat broke, as in I own no money, until my pay check Friday and I know that Mia wouldn't take my money, I have offered to pay her back many times before. Her response is always; buy me coffee at some point. Mia and Seto argue over who's paying, rich bastard. I know it's social acceptable for her to pay, plus she was the one that invited me, but it's so emasculating relying on a girl to pay. I watch the waiter take the money and I have no power to help out. To again rub salt in the wound,

"Having a girl pay again." He doesn't miss a chance to rub in my poverty, or my reliance on Mia for a free meal once in while. My nails dig into my hand, creating a fist that I so desperately want to punch in his rich boy face. Give him a black eye, just to make something imperfect on him. Instead, fighting him is never a good idea,

"Go back to your bubble of money, you seem to be happy there." Then leave, without waiting for a reply.

Read and Review please.


	3. Chapter 3

I get back to the school in a white rage at my incompetence. Seto doesn't recognize my existence when he comes back, just takes out his notebooks for the next class. If he does I probably will have to rip his head off, even if that act is only verbal. Even under present circumstances, it takes almost every ounce of resistance not to.

Class starts and again, tests were graded. And my mood doesn't improve when I get my test grade back, another 60. I swear, what do I have to do to pass, sleep with the teacher? I even studied for this one, fuck. I glance over to Seto's test, 98. Just to see because for some odd reason my mother always asks how well Seto does on test. Then follows up with why can't I do that well. My response to that is always that I didn't study, which is bullshit. I have yet to understand this recent occurrence. But I keep the peace to be able to see my little sister. I move my eyes lower to the first question, A, not marked wrong. In his neat business like handwriting, the same answer as my chicken scratch. I raise my hand.

"What." She snaps. Bad day maybe? Oh wait, that is always how she responses to me. Her eyes have a glazed over look when she walks towards me, pure disinterest. I may not be worth her time, but she doesn't need to let me know so incredibly bluntly.

"I'm positive that you made a mistake when grading my test." Polite as I really know how. I grab Seto's test off his desk. "We agree on the first answer." I take another look at Seto's test, all but 3 of our answer match up. By the time she actually comes to check my plight out, I'm fighting the urge to physically harm her. Carelessness is one thing, that is when someone misses one or two questions, but this is fucking intentional. She glances at, and corrects what is wrong, then makes up some bullshit excuse about being tired last night. Say that to a three hour-long phone call when my mother finds out about a 60. And starts yelling about how I'm useless and stupid, and feeding off my father. How he should have kicked me out a long time ago and he's being a saint for letting me stay. Who fucking misses that many questions?

Even the 89 that ends up on my paper doesn't quite make up for my dismay. Sadly, it is the best I've gotten all year; I really should have looked more closely. She laughs a high-pitched laugh and begins to walk to the front of the room. No apology, just continues the lesson. I put Seto's test back on his desk, before I start to try to listen to the lesson. He doesn't respond with a sarcastic comment, as he is prone to do, just let's my rudeness slide.

I almost puke five times during the day when I'm forced to answer a question. Since I so smart now, I should know this.

Yami comes up to me after school. "Congrades on passing this one, by the way." He smiles and looks like death warmed over. Decompression is not going well for him.

"Yami, you look terrible."

"I know, Yugi wanted me to stay home. But the comprise is that I can't go to soccer practice tonight." That does sound like Yugi, they're going to spend the rest of the afternoon cuddling and Yugi forcing Yami to relax. Which sounds like fun to watch, because Yami doesn't know how to just chill.

"Have fun, I'll see you tomorrow." After grabbing my stuff, I'm off to work, and the wife is working today. I get into my uniform and clock in. The bathrooms are more disgusting then usual and the tables need to be cleaned. Then I take a seat at the counter and wait for no one to come in. It's on an alley that is off a little travelled road. And it's not one of those places that are really nice little hole in the walls that have amazing something or other, because nothing is amazing unless one thinks that middle aged couple in an unhappy marriage are amazing. I grab the paper, top story, "Kiaba Corp bought Industrial Illusions, and the rights to make new dual monsters." I'll admit that's impressive, if it wasn't for the fact that Max is terrible with finances and his company was going under anyway? Who buys a castle on a private island, that can't be cheap? Even if it was foreclosed by the last owner. The article goes on to say that Kiaba Corp now owns 80% of the children gaming market. That has got to keep someone busy, and he didn't even break a sweat. During this whole proceeding, because I really doubt this happened over night, he didn't miss a day of school. Which even now I question why he goes. Or in fact, why I'm the person that he makes fun off. Sometimes I find that he paying more attention to me then Mia, which I don't understand on many different levels. I still don't understand why he even knows of my existence, isn't being a CEO of a corporation that is one of the fastest growing in the world enough to keep Seto's mind busy?

After I read the entire paper, someone comes in and buys one coffee. He stays for a while, orders another and asks for the paper. He gives it back in about ten minutes and leaves without another word. That is the only customer for the day.

The wife "helps" out cleaning. She's in sky-high heels, that are giving her blood heels, a short skirt that barely covers her sagging ass and a bulging neck line; she is very endowed in that respect. We get everything clean and I go to put my apron in the dimly lit back room.

I take off my apron and cram it into the locker. I hear footsteps behind me, click click, her usual after work chats. My sweater jumps out my locker. She leans down giving me, if I really wanted to see, a full view of 45-year-old post-menopausal boobs. While down there, she rearranges her bra. They are independent of each other as they jiggle inside her constraining bra. The flesh over flows the cloth; make up caked on and clumping, highlighting every wrinkle of her worn out boobs. They're memorizing in the way leopard slugs mating are. (1) She gives me back my sweater. Her overly lipsticked lips break into a smile. Exposing brown teeth with blueberry and lipstick on them.

"I see you're looking." I'll admit to being male. She walks towards, click click, grinding them together, forcing them to over flow. I can see the brown outline of the nipple, hairs flying everywhere. Leave, leave, but my body isn't responding to that plea. I'm frozen in place. Her hand wraps around my wrist and drags it towards her boobs.

"I don't mind." She says with, I'm guessing here, is a seductive smile. I pull my hand away, which in my confusion seems to be the best bet. Her smile falters for a second.

"I truly don't mind. You can explore a fully mature woman, not those flat chested teenagers. My husband wouldn't mind; he doesn't really use them anyway." I didn't need to know that. Get out now, why isn't my body responding! Also, that lunch may just come up again.

She doesn't wait for a response, before undoing the first button of her blouse, then the second and before long her entire shirt. Her droopy lop-sided lace bra barely containing the flesh.

"Stop, you're my boss." I say as she is reaching behind to unhook the flesh. Her smile again falters.

"What an even better reason."

"No, you're my boss." Her smile finally evades her, and then tears. Her mascara starts to flows down her face, messing up her "face" then snot starts run. She wipes frantically to get the tear out, covering her face black eye liner. She collapses on to the floor and cries even harder, blows her nose on her blouse. Then starts to talk, from what I could make out,

"I've dreamed of us, making breakfast in the morning, after..."she cries even harder, and the rest is consumed into a puddle of babbles, which I can't distinguish what she is saying fully.

I start to inch away, recognizing what I'm doing, her tears turn to anger. Her face turns a bright red; the veins start pop out of her neck and pulse. Her fists clench, hard enough to turn them white. But the tears continue to come.

"You're fired."

Reviews please.


	4. Chapter 4

I grab my bag, and leave. Leaving her a pathetic bumbling mess that is pleaded at my feet for me, so she can impose her use on me, a use I neither want nor will fulfil.

Three blocks from the cafe, a realization hits me. I lost my job. She used the only power that she had over me, my pay check. It's abuse of power to the extreme, yet I know very well I'm powerless to stop it. Much like everything, powerless to do anything or stop it. Now, powerless to even live, that was my lifeline for basic necessities. But even with that grandiose statement, I know I'm not full grasping the ramifications of those words, truthfully I can't imagine the tip of the ice berg, as the phase goes, in what that will do to my life. I could never get that many hours anywhere; technically illegal for me to work 39 hours a day with me still being in high school. Even if I could get another job, it would easily have to pay a good 12 dollars an hour for me to be able to maintain the basic necessities, new clothes not included.

That is the thought that I come into the apartment with and slam my book bag down on the counter, realizing then that beer bottles are back and taking over the counter again, with the dirty containers taking over the sink again. I really should forget cleaning those, first Serenity would not care that much, and second, all of them will get dirty no matter what happens. My father uses all of the containers and dishes in one day for what I can figure is no reason. Speaking of him, he's in a drunken stupor. I'm not about to go through the unpleasant that would be if I woke up, and told him that I lost my job. Truthfully, he really doesn't need to know.

Even after the traumatic experience with my boss' wife, I have to clean the bathroom for Serenity. While grabbing a bucket and clothes, my mind wanders. Even after the kitchen I find the bathroom even grosser. Two males live in this apartment; one is predominately in the state of drunk.

I really should have done something for her. I see women come and go, most of them desperate and find that sex gets them solace to their lives. Which I find disgusting that my father buys into that. For they never seem to be aware of the outside world, just thinking that sex equals attention.

The bucket's full of cleaning supplies, I have countless rags, and rubber gloves at my disposal, puking is a given, not getting sick in a preferable since this bathroom has not really been clean since Serenity came up last, I walk in to the bathroom and retch. Urea and methane, with a side of stomach acid on a bed of vomit, and a little old food rounds out the top. I take another step, my shoe sticks to the floor, the dirt that hasn't been ground into our broken, warped tiles creates a cloud around where I stepped, as it also does when I put my bucket down.

I start on the shower. The corners are black with mould, forcing the grout off the walls and just hanging there, the faucet has a hole from rust and green mould. While the tile's original blue doesn't show through the dirt and the door's clear doesn't show through the mildew. Our drain has hairs sticking out of it and it's a pipe dream to think that it will work right. I scour them with bleach, most the mould comes lose, the tiles are almost blue again, and I can see the sink from the shower.

The sink comes next. Toothpastey spit creates a film, with hair intermingled with the toothpaste and soup scum around the handles and in the mirror I can't see my reflection. I shave the sink, and then last and worse, the toilet.

My father's triads last night didn't go so well in the morning. The toilet seat has vomit on it, and the ever there faecal matter and urine, everywhere. Some places that I think he had to place the bodily fluid there intentionally. At arms reach I scour the toilet to a respectable state of affairs. Homework, then bed. The good news is that I go to bed at a reasonable 12 am.

School is boring as hell, the teacher still hasn't forgiven me and I tell no one at school my predicament. I hope to get a new one before it becomes a critical issue. After I go to pick my check up all 380 of it. The husband gives me my check, smiles and tells me that I've been a good employee to him, but the tension with his wife and I can't stand. Also, that he knows the story that his wife told him wasn't true, but don't really want to know the real thing. I thank him and leave. He really isn't a bad guy.

I cash it and go to the store. I head to the produce. Massive shelves of fruits and vegetables, the strawberries look really good, they look juicy with red insides. Serenity will love them; hopefully she'll make cake to go with them.

Mom and Serenity used to make a cake on the first day after school was out, back when our parents were still together and my father could keep his drinking in check, only one or two a night. They never allowed me to help with anything, saying that I would screw it up, but I watched them from a stool in the corner of the kitchen, stealing a taste there, a lick here. They mixed the cake, baked and let it cool.

The best part was decoration. They made whipped cream, which I always got the bowl to lick with a little extra, coloured it bright green and blue. My father cut some strawberries for the top and middle, and my mother assembling it, with Serenity helping a little more each year. Mom was so particular about the decorations, but it was beautiful every single year. Whipped cream in the middle and top, strawberries cut into flowers on the top. It tasted as delicious as it looked, and Serenity always go whipped cream all over her face and hands. I smile at the memories of those days, when my father always played duel monsters with me when the cake was cooling, and mom and serenity made doll clothes. This was also when my father had a stable income.

I grab lettuce, when in the produce section. Since she eats like a rabbit, refusing to eat any sort of meat for ethical reason. Something about factory farms and corn industrial complex, or I can't really afford meat if I get vegetables. Also, she goes on about eating sustainable and organic, but she doesn't expect me to buy those foods. I wonder my way through the store, picking up milk and eggs.

Then chips and cookies, she will never admit it but packaged, high fructose corn syrup ridden food stuffs is her comfort food, she gets acne supposedly. Whenever she hurt herself, she fell a lot when she was little, Mom gave a band aid and cookie. The first for her health, the second to make her stop crying. Her first day of kindergarten she came home crying her eyes out because someone made fun her dress, it was this purple jumper with some cartoon on it. Since our parents were working at that point, and we never home until both of us were in bed, guess what I did for her, got her some milk, cookies and a terrible movie. I think we watched land before time number1-56 until both of us were asleep on the couch. Even after the class pet died. This time the movie was X-Men, because a ten-year boy got to choose the movie. She would cry at the slightest unhappiness. Plus, Mom refuses to buy anything unhealthy for Serenity, but if it is for her the purchase is perfectly fine.

When Serenity last came up, on Saturday morning she and I just watched terrible R rated movies, since Mom doesn't allow anything over PG, and ate pre-packaged cookies. For those times, I got "Zombie mutant Vampires from the hood", not as bad as it sound really. Then bread, peanut butter and jelly and kid's cereal. I desperately hope that she has a good time.

When I get home, he isn't here. I write the electricity check, homework and then I go to bed. After school, I go to the bus stop for Serenity.


	5. Chapter 5

Have fun with this chapter.

I get to the bus stop ten minutes early for Serenity's bus; the entire places smells of gas and body odour, and all one has to sit on are lines of little plastic seats that wouldn't fit a three year old, with people always there trying to convert me, normally a women that has too much make up on and offers me melty candies from her overly large purse, in between talking to herself. In an attempt to try to ignore them, I bring my history.

I will pass the next quarter, even if it kills me. I will not have Mom's boyfriend comparing me to his perfect son, Rex. Who is I swear undiagnosed autistic, who likes dinosaurs that much? Anyway, I open my book. The Nile rises in the highlands of Ethiopia and the lakes of central Africa. Then I look up to check the time, three more minutes until Serenity's bus. Egyptian women could be priests. A bus pulls in to the station, people are unloaded. I start to pack up my stuff, when I notice the last person has gotten off and the bus is pulling out. No Serenity came off that bus. I check to see if that was her buss, it came from her town and there was no call to tell anyone that she missed or that mom has not allowed her to come for safety reasons. That was her bus, and she didn't get off. I know that, but I don't believe it.

30 minutes and done history homework later, I give up. I'm tired of sitting in this smelly bus stop, with a creep that has plastic guns on his hips and a cowboy hat on. The guards are not kicking him out, but they ask me to leave after 10 minutes of waiting. I leave and walk into the spring air, glancing back every couple steps. Yugi and Yami will be "watching a movie" by this late in the night, Duke and Tristan will be blowing up aliens on a television screen, and Ryou has been sick all week. Hell if I know what Mia does on a Friday night, as much as I hope to part of those at one point. So, I just go home as much as that is last place I would like to be on a Friday night, especially since Serenity didn't come. I was looking forward to her coming up, so I had to go most of the week without a little breakfast, forget buying new sneakers for a month or so, my last ones were a gift from Mia anyway, but I wanted her come. But she must have had her reasons for not coming, there is probably a voicemail at home telling me them.

At 9:00 I get back to my apartment, beer bottles carpet the floor, smoke filling the air and almost trip over an empty wine bottle. My eyes water from the smoke, but it does cover up the mould smell. I look in the fridge; almost all the food is gone, only the veggies are still there. He ate my half-moon cookies that I bought as a treat, bastard. I was looking forward to that. There is drunken laughter coming from other room. I step in.

Ashtrays are full, the 12 packs are empty, and my father and four other guys are eating the chips I bought, around a table, gambling. They bet anywhere from 5 to 100 on the current hand, my father's turn, he places the money on the table, 110 dollars. He laughs as he flushes away our rent, heat, electricity, food. I look at the money in defeat, I want to grab all the money on the table and buy myself a new pair of sneakers and a new uniform, or just something selfish. But if I speak up all I'd get is "It's my money, I can do what I want with it." My fists clench.

This happens every Friday night somewhere, gambling away everything, tricking himself into thinking that he's going to make it big and get the jackpot, always betting the most, like that will be an accomplishment. Then forcing me to pay the bills, when I know that my father makes enough to at least cover some bills, because he thinks that buying drinks for girls and losing at cards is a better way to spend money then rent. He loses the hand, laughing as he does.

He finally realizing I'm standing there, he takes another swig from the bottle, then with the back of his hand wipes his mouth. Some alcohol spilling over on to his three-day-old beard, and continuing to his ripped, stained wife-beater. I take no precaution to hide my emotions.

"That was a nice time waiting for nothing, wasn't it?"

I stare at him in rage and shock, my fingernails digging into my hand, deeper as I really processed what happened this week, Serenity was never coming, just because he wanted the house clean. I don't care about the time it took to clean the house or the money for the extra food, or the fact that he used me and I was too stupid to see through that or just expect it by now, but he can't use Serenity against me. She has nothing to do with him and can't stand for that he used her.

While his friends laugh at the comment, their drunken stupid laugh, He smirks at me, and then takes another swig before dealing for the next round.

"Is nothing fucking sacred to you?" I scream.

Tears finally come, frustration at just how powerless I really am, at my disappointment over Serenity, and the knowledge that I am not strong enough to rip my father's throat out. My breathing quickens and my heart rate is up. I don't move from that spot. He's not threatened by me, all he does is just smirk. Who would be? A scrawny 17 years old against a drunk, monster of man. He looks up from his cards, he has a look of disgust on his face.

"So fucking what? So Serenity was never coming, big whoop. Machiavelli Joey. The ends justify the means. And since the house did get clean; I find that his ideas do in fact work."

Dissolving any illusions I had about my father, by using the only person I hold close against me. I cry harder, why, because I have nothing to lose. The desire to break my father kneecaps, strangle the phone around his throat and laugh at his ripped, torn, mutilated body, consumes me. He plays his bets, lights a cigarette, blatantly ignoring me; finally my mouth moves in a way to form words.

"You fucking disgusting bastard. All you do is fuck underage women because you can't get the legal type and gamble away your paycheck. You're a leach on the system. So, let's see what happenings when I'm not contributing to the bills, not working 39 fucking hours a week, let's see if you can keep a roof over your own head." I regret those words as they leave my mouth, but they left my mouth like sugar. I take a step towards the door.

He looks up, and puts his cards on the table. He's smiling, a smile I've seen many times.

"You seem to forget who the parent is, and raised your lazy ass for 17 years. It's about time you paid me back for all those years." I have no reply to the stupidity of that. His friends laugh.

He starts towards me, his boot thudding every step, my palms start to sweat and my heart speeds up, still carrying his bottle and a disgusting smirk on his face. Every step I hear his pocket-knife hit against his thigh. Still, every nerve wants to cut his throat open, which is the only reason I'm not bolting. I punch, no connection. Fuck.

"Can't even hit anything, what a Pussy."

He laughs, before countering right in the stomach with his boot forcing me on my knees in pain, coughing and can barely take a breath. Fuck, he's drunk and doesn't know how much power he is putting behind each kick. His friends laugh. I try to tackle, but with a heavy kick in the side I'm on the ground again, among the forgotten beer bottles, used cigarette and mould. I catch a cockroach scudding away into the walls.

"You worthless fucking punk. I'm nice enough to let you live here." His friends woot in agreement and egg him on. He kicks me in head this time, almost knocking me out, but I'm not that lucky, just enough to leave a gash on the side of my head. The blood gets in my eyes and nose. I try to grab his boot in one last desperate attempt to harm him in some way. That deserves another kick in the arm.

"After being a saint for letting your faggot ass stay, I can do whatever that fuck I want." My forehead is still gushing blood, and a wound on my arm is soaking through my jacket, my head is feeling dizzy, so I take no notice to whatever he says. I do take notice to when he steals my duel monsters cards. I again try to get up to at least standing, but his boot stops that. His friends laugh still.

"Whatever I want."

He puts the cards on the table and takes one.

"Kuriboh, lame."

He takes the lighter from the table, lights a corner and lets the card burn to ashes, repeat for the all forty cards, allowing "by accident" for some ash to fall on my bare skin.

I pull my knees towards my chest, wait for him to get bored. More kicks are laid, more insults, soon his friends come over to give me a kick. They agree with my father that kicking a teenager is indeed a fun sport. They get into an argument about if I'm awake or not, their voice raise, ending in a bottle to the head for me, to end my father's argument.

Review please. :)


	6. Chapter 6

I wake up in a white room, white sheets, white pillow, white tiles and a nurse in white uniform comes in to my room. My head hurts and my vision is fuzzy much like my memory of what happened to me. I have casts on my legs and arms, stitches on my forehead and lip, and a few wires to keep my casts where the doctors want them to be, and bandages covering the rest of my body. My hair unevenly cut off in some places, weird. The last scene I remember is Yami, and Yugi playing dual monsters, I'm waiting which one of them I'll have to lose against because I just beat Tea, that was the 15th , but how would that ever lead to me in the hospital?

The nurse notices that I'm awake, maybe she can tell me something of interest, she smiles a kindly smile. She's an old woman that I imagine is a grandmother by now.

"Oh good you're awake. You're injuries weren't fatal." She looks at her clip board. "50 stitches, 5 broken bones, and a minor concussion. But no lost teeth, at least you're smile is still there. Found with nothing but clothes on your back." I try to smile, but it hurts too much to. She continues.

"You were lucky for the young man to find you, he was lovely and polite as can be. He also seemed to know you, Joey Wheeler?" I nod. Who the fuck could that be? Why would anyone that gave a shit about me be around, I'm guessing, my apartment. It does answer why I'm here though.

"Oh good, he had the right person. The gossip in the lunchroom is that he was very concerned for your well-being and angry at who, or whatever did this to you. He also said that he found you in the trash. I'm a bit of a gossip. From what I've heard, he was extremely good looking." She giggles the last part. The nurse has already created a heart felt romance about a mysterious savour sweeping me off my feet and taking me to the palace. I do wish I knew who it was though.

But when I come right down to it, the whole situation is extremely strange, why would someone put me in the trash or hack off my hair. Or the biggest question, why did someone beat the ever living shit out of me, could I have pissed off someone that much? Obviously I did, but why?

The door opens, pulling me out of my confusion, and reveals the gang. Yugi, Yami, Tristan, Tea, Duke, but the person I'm happiest to see is Serenity. She runs up to me, and hugs me, which hurts a lot. The nurse leaves.

"Ow, Ow, I'm fine, well, alive at least." She lets me go, and smiles from ear to ear. Her face is tearstained and snot has taken up camp. Her hair doesn't look like it's been combed in a couple days, and her clothed wrinkled.

"Well, that is something. So, what happened?"

What probably everyone was thinking. I want the abuser to be Kiaba in some way, but can't imagine it. I hate his guts and I would like punch him the arrogant look off his face more then once a day, but why in the world would he beat me up? The logic tells me it's an asshole in my neighbourhood that was too hopped up on something to realize that I meant him no harm. I keep my suspicion to myself; partly no one else here dislikes Kiaba quite as much I do. If he knew, he would probably be say "I guess a mutt really can't go up against a pure breed."

"I really can't remember anything, after the time I was playing duel monsters."

"Wait, that was at least two weeks ago. I knew you had a bad memory, but that's ridiculous." Yami is trying with all his might not to show relief in his face; Yugi makes no secret of his concern and relief at my conciseness Tea puts a vase of flowers and a box of sweets on my side desk.

"First, My memory isn't that bad. Second, Nothing, blank."

"Strange, but I'm glad you're alive. You're been out for 24 hours or so, well that's how long it's been since Yugi got a call from Serenity, hyperventilating on the other end of the phone." Serenity blushes slightly, and chimes in,

"You can't blame me, my brother is in the hospital. I'm defiantly going to be calm about it." I smile, it's been a while since I was able to relax and just chat with the gang without any real time constraints. I'll admit I'm euphoric. Then Duke also comes in with a gem of male wit.

"You can make you hyperventilate without your brother being in the hospital." I'm not sure what that was supposed to be, but it gets everyone laughing. But 24 hours, puts me at Saturday night, what I could have been doing on Saturday night that could have gotten me beat up? I normally try to get home before 9 on Saturday, after 10 is affectionately called "Raping Time" in our neighbourhood, unless I stay over whomever house I'm at, Kiaba has better things to do, and my father always goes gambling and drinking somewhere else and passes out whatever girl he goes home with, so he's never home on Saturday or Friday for that matter. Plus, why would he spend so much effort on abusing me, he always gets bored after one or two strikes, not once has he ever stoke me more the twice. Nothing is making any sense, but is partly medication though.

"Duke, just no. And, how's grandpa?"

"He's good. He's home and resting; we had to hire a nurse to help us because everything got too time consuming to do. Truthfully, everything's been pretty calm. Yugi isn't panicking any more. Besides the onslaught of letters wanting Yugi and I in a competition or talk show of some sort and the tabloids swearing that Yugi and I are twin brothers. Besides the genetic tests that say we are not. Everything is calm." They do look surprisingly similar and during Halloween they did come to school as each other, that confused the teachers, well, until they spoke.

When Yami came on the duelling scene, and took everyone by surprise at how well he did against Yugi, the king of games. This handsome, rich guys kid, who no one knew as anything other then the son of the C.E.O of Atem Inc, the other 20% of the children's gaming market, walks out on the floor of the most prestigious Duel Monsters tournament of the year, only the best of the best get to join, including Seto fucking Kiaba, who's ego can't be contained. I got front row ticket because of my relation with Yugi, but Yami walked out on stage, with no titles to his name, I needn't have to say that he stuck out and looked like a kid with too much time and money.

And he did lose, to Yugi.

The tabloids had a hey day with that and jump-started Yami career in professional duelling, I haven't asked if he has beaten Yugi yet, well in duel monsters.

His and Yugi's courtship was by far the cutest I've seen. Both were much to shy to actually ask each other out and they were publicized as rivals. Even when they did officially get together, Yami's family wasn't too pleased when he told them he was dating Yugi, but they couldn't complain all that much. Unfortunately the fees for those competition were always much to expensive for my family to afford and plus, I'm not great at Duel Monsters anyways.

"Sounds like fun. Are your parents bugging you to come back home yet?"

"When haven't they? Anyway, want to duel?" He hands me his extra deck, I take it with some difficulty and remind myself what exactly is in it, as he lays out the portable duelling mat. It's a new product from Kiaba Corp, not full release yet, that using the same holographic technology that everyone is accustom to in the duel disks but creates holograms that about five inches tall. Because as everyone knows, no one can play card games with super advanced holograms at least that's what the commercial tells me.

"So, I can lose against you?"

"Want a handicap?" I shake my head, but sealing my demise in the game.

They leave when I start making really stupid moves, like trying to attack Dark magician girl with Kuriboh or trying to trap my own monsters, minus that I didn't even get the joy of taking one life point away from Yami. While Yugi ransacks my sweets before I do. Serenity stays after to tell me that Mom doesn't know what happened, nor has she told our father. Sometimes my sister really knows how to cheer me up. Why...

I fall into a medicated sleep before I finish that thought. The doctor comes and makes sure I'm not dead, from what I could get from the visit. My friends, Mia and Ryou included come and go, Mokuba comes by with Serentity to visit, Serenity taking over feeding me and Mokuba luckily not teasing me too badly, I even get the delightful gift of a week's worth of homework when Yami and Yugi come to visit. My gifts are pilling up, a few compliments from Valentine Inc, a marketing firm owned by Mia's mother, most of them are children's toys. Well, I now know what Mia thinks of me.

Finally, the day of my release comes. Serenity and Mokuba, of weird people, show up to pick me up from the hospital. Mokuba is a normal 13 year old in most cases, more intelligent then most true and bit more obsessed with duel monsters, but his brother owns the damn game no one can blame him. He doesn't know the value of a dollar but he's not some spoiled kid. Also, how that nice of a kid is ever able to live with that bastard of a brother, is something I don't think I'll ever understand or how he turned out to such nice of a kid.

They're armed with a duffle bag for the few clothes I was brought.

"Ready to go? You've been here a week and half, I hope you are. The hospital isn't that amazing of a place." Mokuba teases. I nod. My meds have been eased up, and I can finally think slightly more clearly.

I'm not looking forward going home, back to that apartment that smells of shit and piss. Where used condoms and empty beer bottles are perpetually a part of the scenery, where you can't sit on the couch for fear of bodily fluids. Back to the cockroaches and bed bugs, back to asshole neighbours who beat me up for the few dollars I have. Most importantly, back to my father. My heart speeds up for some reason, my palms start to sweat. Strange, I've always hated him, never afraid of him. I suppress it to the back of my mind. Serenity takes care of my follow up appointment, and takes my prescriptions for pain meds. Our mother never had decency to come to see if I'm alive nor did our father for that matter.

"Thanks for taking care of me." I say. She's a great sister, I regret making her worry from geting myself hurt.

"Don't worry, Joey. Someone has too, you obviously can't." She teases as we walk out of the hospital; a black car comes up in front of us. It's a luxury, with tined windows and chrome trim, Mokuba rips open the door and climes in, with my duffle bag. Then Serenity. Then with a lot of difficulty, I clime into the car.

Review please?

My incredibly creative corporation names. =)


	7. Chapter 7

"I hope you liked your hospital stay." His famous white coat barely touching the car floor, boots that I know he paid more then my month's rent for, pants worth my monthly salary, a briefcase that has every card ever made, and a look in his eyes that tells me that I am a bug to him, Seto fucking Kaiba. He doesn't look like he's sleep in a week or two. Why is he here? Doesn't he have business to take care of or people to fire for spelling his name wrong? I look at Serenity, she's happily chatting away with Mokuba. None of this is making any sense and I'm not in the mood to be fooled.

The car stops, I get out of the car, with a little help from Serenity, in front of a store in an alley that is off a little travelled road, the streets haven't been paved in years, and look up. My heart drops to my stomach when I look at the building directly in front of me, my place of work. The two-story brick house with vines running up the walls, the door, shutters and wrap around porch have been newly painted, within the past week. The few square feet of grass and flowers perfectly cut and gardened. The houses around are of the same style of house, all extremely well taken care of. The only sound I hear beside the car is birds chirping in the many trees around, all well taken care of. Truthfully, I feel like I should be retiring into this house.

I glace at Mokuba, he's content. Seto takes a key and unlocks the front door, and strides in. I'm confused, really confused. I limp after him and into the Cafe. Well, Ex-Cafe, it didn't look much like one anyways even less now. The glass tables, counter tops, and stools, have been replaced with coaches, TVs, gaming systems surrounded sound systems, computer and laptop. Every piece of technology is high end, to put it lightly, and inscribed with the Kaiba Corp logo.

This has to a joke of some sort; I know that Seto doesn't live here. He lives in a fancy mansion on the other side of town, where no one can go in or out without him knowing about it and he gets cooked and cleaned for. Why he did he take me here? I see no sign of my boss or his wife, which would be something that made sense.

"Look Familiar?" I take a seat on the coach, my legs hurt.

I nod. Unsure of the answer he wanted. What is happening here?

"Just making sure those memories weren't fucking damaged." He spit the last part, is Seto losing his cool? He continues, as calm as ever.

"Since, I have my doubts you want to go back to your pest infested apartment, I took the liberty of lending you my father's old apartment. You own me nothing for the apartment, nor the hospital bills. Your utilities will be paid for and food staples will be delivered every week." He says this as if it's a laundry list.

I barely resister that he finished speaking, since my mind is all the way back at infested. None of today is making any sense, someone must have medicated Seto or I've been medicated more then I thought, for this would never happen in real life or its' his idea of a sick joke. He also got my sister and his brother in on the joke, because they're playing with the gaming systems like nothing unusual is happening. Why would Seto Kaiba, a guy that never stops insulting me, give me an apartment, who cares if he doesn't use it, pay my basic necessities all without a debt? None of it makes any logic or is part of the reality I know. I'm broke and injured; I don't need to be someone's plaything. If my pride didn't stop me, I would be hyperventilating right now.

"Quit it! What type of sick joke are you playing?" I try without much success to steady my voice.

Some emotion shows on Seto's face for a spilt second, too fast to quite catch what it is. What am I supposed to say, or do? Grovel at his feet, lick his boot, worship him for giving me his cast off apartment? Mokuba and Serenity look up from their gaming delirium.

"Mokuba." Seto says, in the same voice he used to tell me this joke. He puts down the controller down, says that he'll see Serenity later and he leave for the car. Seto glances over to me, again too quickly for me get what he's thinking, then puts a key on the table with a sheet of paper. His final line before leaving,

"You still owe me nothing."

The door slams shut, taking his spoiled rich ass with it. I look at Serenity, she's frowning at me, like I did something wrong. I hobble over to keys and paper; I cram the keys into my pocket, and unfold the paper. Thinking it's going to be a lease or some legal paper.

Nope, its test that I took about two weeks ago on ancient Egyptian mythology with a 56 on top crossed out and replaced with a 95. Minus that the teacher fucked up my test, why does Seto have my test? I put it back on the counter, and turn back to Serenity, still giving me a very disapproving stare.

"What?" I snap. "Sorry, I..." She puts her hand up, cutting me off before I say anything stupid, sighing and saying something under her breath that sounds like

"Both of you are complete idiots." Then audibly,

"I'll make something to eat." I nod, not looking forward when she has to leave tomorrow. That was the agreement with our mother, with a lot of begging on Serenity's part. I hobble into the kitchen to keep her company, taking a seat at the island. The whole kitchen is state of the art, with Blue Eyes White dragon cupboard handles, and appliance with the Kiaba Corp logo on them, one of the failed expansions that Seto tried at one point.

That was a strange time in Seto's history. Last year, he tried mostly without success to expand his company into different markets. He made a good dishwasher, from what I've heard, but no one wants to buy a dishwasher from a gaming company, half the people that bought it though it was a toy. He also tried food, which had some success. I can still buy Blue eyes pops in the frozen section, but that's about it. The only market he really did get into was motorcycles, and now I'm wondering how he'll tie that into Duel Monsters.

Serenity serves dinner; setting two plates piled high with tofu, vegetables and rice.

"Eat up. It's much better then hospital food, I can assure you. For one thing, it has some flavour."

True, with quite a bit of difficulty I eat, my hand is still injured to the point that I can't really do very many fine motor movements. How did someone hurt my hand that badly, I really wish I knew? We eat and watch terrible movies, until both of us are falling asleep on the coach.

The next day is when Serenity leaves. She makes breakfast; I thank her profusely, and start to pack up for the trip home. When the same black car from yesterdays parks out front, I brace myself for the worse. Luckily, only Mokuba hops out the car, unlocks and waltz right in, disconcerting as that is. He has a big smile on his face,

"Hey, Joey. Liking the apartment so far? I've never actually been in here before yesterday. I knew it existed, but I never had a reason to come here. I'm glad Seto finally found a use for this old place, it's no strain to him."

Mokuba is completely immersed into Seto's sick joke, and he didn't need to remind me that Seto can afford this elaborate of a scheme. Help the poor starving children of Africa, screw that, the war torn Middle East, screw that too. Serenity comes into the living room carrying a duffle bag of clothes, barely being able to carry it.

"You know, our drivers really wouldn't mind driving you to your house. You really don't need to take the bus, among all those, fat sweaty people. That annoy you with their snoring or have to get up to go to the bathroom every three minutes and come back smelling of the bathroom." Why do I have my doubts he's ever been on a public bus? But, I know I wouldn't want to take a bus after that description.

"Mokie, your concern is sweet, but I can't ask your driver to drive three hours to my house and back." Mokie? Pet names? What?

"If you two like each other, spit it out now." As any 12 years old would, their faces go bright red. Both are stuttering to defend that they are not in fact dating or like each other, as much as they do make a cute couple. Did I seriously just think that? That asshole's brother and my little sister, oh god. Mokuba is the first to recover.

"We are not. Seto's already teased me about dating her, I didn't think that I was going to get it from you too." Seto teasing, why can't I not see this? He grabs Serenity luggage, much to protests of Serenity.

"Fair enough." Before leaving for the car.

"I'll be back next weekend." Serenity says

"I'll be look forward to it." She hugs me goodbye, this time it doesn't hurt.

I turn on the TV and don't look forward to having to go to school tomorrow, forgetting about a hair cut. I wasn't trying to attract anyone anyways.

* * *

Review please?

Seto Kaiba, out of character? Also, who wouldn't want a Kaiba Corps dishwasher? And I couldn't resist a chance to poke fun at Yu gi oh 5d's.


	8. Chapter 8

I relax on the couch, which for once doesn't have a crust; in fact it's a really nice leather one, pre-softened, while watching the duelling channel. Unfortunately, the two duellists kind of suck, and I find myself correcting their strategies.

I get a call around six from Serenity saying that she's home, safe and that Mom wants to speak to me about something. Oh god, this can't be good. She sounds unsure but still hands the phone over to Mom. I turn off the TV.

She's in half hysteria. "Well, how much will this cost me?" Screw hellos "You go get yourself beat to a pulp and I'm the one that has to foot the bill. Do you know how that feels?" I don't have a chance to respond, "It makes me feel like shit, that's how. Because your dead beat father doesn't have the money for anything besides booze, not even his own fucking kid." My hearts to speed up, my breathing becomes shallow. The stitches on my head throb slightly. Strange. Which distracts me from my annoyance at my mother.

"MOM!" That's the only way I can get her attention I swear. "Seto Kaiba paid the bill, there is no bill for you at least." I fell like an idiot saying that, but from what I know it's true.

"A likely story. He's the CEO of a massive corporation, like he has time for you." I hear Serenity try to correct her, as much as I don't believe myself that Seto paid my bills. She doesn't have to continue to remind me that I'm not a corporate suit, nor do I want to be one.

"If you don't believe me, ask Serenity. She just spent most of the past week with his little brother. Now, can I have Serenity back on?" Disregarding that suggestion, and ignoring Serenity altogether.

"No, not until I've made my point." Translation, put the phone down, watch a little TV and come back in 30 minutes when she's done, but be active enough to know you're here and pretending to listen. It's an art that I have mastered in the past 7 years. In end, not even letting me talk to Serenity again. Oh well, that's what I get for getting myself beat to pulp I guess.

I go to bed early that day after taking my pain medication, and then get comfortable in the down stairs bedroom.

I wake up at the normal time and a hobble in the kitchen. I want nothing special, toast maybe with a little peanut butter or jam? I open the cabinets and find organic everything, jams, chips, flour, sugar, natural peanut butter, and a loaf of bread, whole grain. I guess my wonder bread and McDonalds diet isn't good enough for Kaiba. The fridge is even scarier, organic milk without rBST, organic salad, organic strawberries, where there is more leaf then strawberry. I grab the milk quickly and close the door, it's scary in there, make my self some toast and jam breakfast. But however suspicious of Kaiba's motives, I will admit it's really nice to able to choose what I want for breakfast, and not think about if I'm going to have enough for the rest of the week and not have to deal with random women screaming at me. Truthfully the last one is the best part. I smile at that fact.

Then hobble into the shower, which has a waterfall shower head and non-mouldy wall tiles, shower as best I can and limp my over the closet and open it. The closet is fully stocked with clothes my size, pants, shirts, ties, cummerbunds, tailcoats. I debate if I'm going to wear Seto-bought clothes, but realize that I don't have much of a choice in the matter. My clothes are at the apartment or bloodied since a few of my wounds are still oozy. He had to continue remind me that he can do this entire act without breaking the bank, bastard. Which begs the question, how do he get my size? While putting on my shirt, the answer hits me, Serenity. Why would she get in on this sick ploy is something that I can't figure out for the life of me. I grab a pair of pants, and notice a large yellow, unopened package in the back of the closet. Since, Seto didn't care enough to take it out, I find no reason why I can't see what's in it. I lay it out and stare for a minute before smirking a little at the yellow and brown spotted dog costume. I leave it on the floor, but grab the backpack that I also find in the closet, school supplies included.

With a bit of trouble, I get to school, slightly later then I normally do, so everyone is already there. I take a seat and glace over at Seto seat, for once the entire year Seto is absent. Probably just making another million. Instead, Mai is sitting in his seat, talking to Tea. She smiles,

"Hey Joey. Happy to be back at school?"

"Not really." I desperately want to ask her what drugs Seto's been on this past three days or what the fuck is happening, but that seems out of place.

"Oh, want to go to lunch, to celebrate that you're not being dead. On me."

"Sure." For once, I get to go to lunch with Mai without Seto Kaiba. Fuck yeah!

I turn to Yugi and Yami. Yami still looking a little on the exhausted side, and his parents seem to be running him ragged. Truthfully, now that I think of it, I love the irony of his parents. Going purely off the literal, their worried about his education. While Domino High is the best high school in Domino, public or private, how I got in is a mystery to me. But, got to love the irony.

"So, Yami, any plans to back to living with your parents?" Panic sets in Yugi's face, the wanted reaction. Yami just calmly replies "No. Yugi still needs moral support; his grandfather can't run the game shop by himself yet. And would you stop freaking out Yugi, you've done that three times already." They kiss, partly to calm down Yugi, and for Yami to make his point very clear that he isn't going home any time soon and I should really shut up about it. He says that like I want him to go home.

"Gayyyyy." Duke states the obvious.

"And I don't see you with anyone, now do I?" Yami does have a sarcastic streak.

"I only have my eyes on one girl, Serenity." I know he's serious about his affections and given the chance, he would take Serenity on a date, but Serenity has told me that she finds Duke hilarious, dateable not so much.

"Fair enough, but I'll worn you, you have stiff competition."

"No one can beat my sexiness." Posing is included.

The teacher comes in and starts class. Even after being out of school for two weeks, school is incredibly boring. The only thing I have to look forward to is lunch, which doesn't seem to come fast enough.

Mai and I go to a different restaurant, a small Italian place only a few buildings away, our normal place is much to far for me to hobble too. The restaurant's ceiling in my favourite part, the entire ceiling is made to look like twilight with little twinkling stars. The hostess leads us to our table; we order and get our food before either of us says a word. As much as I wish this lunch were a sign of any interest in dating, I have this awkward feeling it is the exact opposite of that, well in some form. She starts,

"I'm not one for grand formalities, so I'll get the point, Seto and I have officially broken up four days ago." Music to my ears, but the last thing I expected. They seemed happy together, true not most affectionate relationship ever, but when is Seto affectionate to even his own brother. In fact, if she told me they were getting engaged I would have been less shocked. I try to take a sip of my water, but realize my hand is shaking too much.

"Wow, um, Sorry." She chuckles a little, and shakes her head.

"Don't worry about it, it was mutual. I wanted to tell you before it goes public because I need some one to vouch for me. We've been the item around the school for a while, so I need someone that no one cheated on anyone."

I'm staring and I know it. They're been going out for a year and three months and to just up and break it off. Truthfully without much fighting from what I could tell, normally I hear the gossip from Tea; the break up just seems too sudden. And Seto Kaiba is not the one for spontaneity; he is a careful planner.

"Over what may I ask?" This also might the reason he's not in school, crying into his pillow and yelling at his maids that he wants to die because Mai just broke his heart. Why does this just not sound like Seto Kaiba, at all. Amusing as that scene would be.

"Both of us fell hard for someone else, but I promised that I wouldn't tell." This is also something I can't see, Seto having a crush, which is a foreign idea as it is, and not out rightly just telling that person. My head may have to explode to comprehend this bit of information.

"I'm all for Seto Kaiba finding some to dote on without reservation, so he can stop insulting me. Someone else can deal with his sarcastic comments."

Those are the word, but my tone surprised me, it didn't hold the normal bitter attitude that comes out whenever I'm talking about Seto Kaiba. The tone is more teasing then anything mean spirited.

"Oh, and how are you liking the apartment? Serenity was so cute picking out clothes for you. I hope that everything fit right."

"Good. I still don't understand why she would go with his sick ploy." Again, my tone surprises me. She laughs almost having water go up her nose, very lady like.

"Sick Ploy? Not Seto."

Review Please? Come on, I won't bite. (OK, maybe a nibble.)


	9. Chapter 9

Again I find myself staring at her like she just turned into a leopard slug with two heads, and is going for the salt. What! And a few more exclamation points while I'm at it, preferable as many as Seto Kaiba is worth. This screws every rule in the rulebook of reality, I know he has money, but that doesn't mean he can screw those rules*. I want life to make sense again and I was hoping that Mai could give me that, at least be able to give me a drug to blame for this scandal. Mai smiles at my confusion.

"You know we should get going if we're going to make it back in time." Again nothing. She put money on the table to cover the bill and goes back to school, going straight to her next class, making sure that she is far enough away to not be able to ask her any more questions. I go over to Yugi's house after school, because I obviously don't have any work since my old work got converted into a house, and I know I'll end up doing homework of some kind over there. Grandpa is cleaning the glass case at the back of the store when I walk in the door. He's thin, but looks healthier then I've seen him in a month. The life that I knew since I first meet Grandpa shows in his eyes and he smiles when five teenagers, come in the door.

"Grandpa, you're not supposed to be cleaning." Yugi says, before snatching the cloth that Grandpa has in his hand.

"Yugi, I feel fine. I know when to stop and rest and plus, you looked like you could use a hand around the store." Yugi looks at him in logical defeat, Grandpa is again right about his own health. He gives the cloth back, and tells him not to over do it and air on the side of caution. After greetings, we go up stairs to the main house.

The main house is has become a weird place, it's a combination of a teenager's bedroom and an old folks home. Duel monsters cover almost ever surface, duel books take up many shelves on the already too full bookcases, while books on ancient Egypt take up the rest of the space. The carpet goes unvacuumed, dirty socks and sweaty sport gear take up half the foyer. I guess when one throws two males in a house without parents, one of them had maids and servants his whole life and the other panicking, things get forgotten. Which I guess I like knowing that Yami isn't able to do everything as much as he sure as hell tries.

Yami puts a kettle for tea, and I grab a soda from the fridge. Thank god he has normal food, not organic soda that tastes like nothing. Yugi already has the duel monsters cards out and eagerly wanting to play me. I'm not that great, it can't be an interesting duel for him. He hands me his other deck, with a few others to make it at least semi fair. I shuffle and take my first hand; Slifer the Executive Producer*, then Kuriboh. Which holds more impact, it's one of Yugi's favourite monsters, after the Dark Magician. Yet I stare at the card slightly longer then I feel like I should, and the word lame comes to mind for some reason. I push thought out of my mind and concentrate on trying to lose Yugi life points. Yami watches with mild amusement at our duel. When I lose life point after life point to Yugi, even with a crippled deck, I get almost nowhere. Grandpa has comes to watch the little monsters fight each other in the middle.

"Hey Joey, found your deck yet? Because you're sucking with our decks." I shake my head, and take that comment as a compliment.

"Sorry, but nope. I can't for the life of me figure why I would lose my deck." Grandpa shows concern on his face, he's the guy that taught Yugi when he was small and he was the person that helped me create a decent deck. I lost the deck that Grandpa helped me create.

"I can hook you up with a deck, but I can't promise you that I can get another copy of the Red Eyes. As you know, that isn't a card that I come across very often."

I won that Red Eyes from Rex, the last time that I went up to visit Mom. It was a little over two years ago and I challenged him to a duel since he told me I suck at duelling, Grandpa has just help me create my deck and I wanted to test it out on someone that didn't know it as well as I did. Rex was my age so I didn't have to hold back, we bet our best cards and I won. My Mom was pissed, when I bruised poor Rex's ego, she was going to force me to give the card back, but I refused, that wasn't the terms of the bet. It caused a lot of strife, and one wonders why I never went back. But I don't regret not giving it back; people should learn that a bet's a bet. I lose, with Yugi at 2000 still. Better then most of his competition. Yugi runs off to play with Tea and Tristan.

"Don't worry about it. I'll find my deck, I don't go very many places." I give him a reassuring smile, he doesn't like his work lost and I respect that. It's probably just at my old apartment in the locked drawer in my desk, with the key in the copy of "TI-84 plus manual" we have, we don't own the calculator though. I groan in my head at the thought of going back there. Grandpa doesn't push the issue further and leaves us be to go make sure Tea and Tristan aren't ripping each other's throats out, it happens. Yami picks the cups, giving me worried vibes. Yugi isn't the best at picking up on emotional signals; Yami is a genius at it. I glare but don't leave the room; he wins, without even saying one freaking word.

"Fine, I'm staying at a apartment that belongs to Seto Kaiba and can't figure out what's happening, ok." His brow ruffles, and is silent for a second.

"Stay put, at least until you get a job." He says while washing the tea cups and pot. I normally take Yami's advice, but I'm doubting this one, I give a good once over to figure if he's serious or not. He is.

We go into the living room; Yami finds a seat next to Yugi.

I'm the last to leave, around 10:30, when Yugi is falling asleep on Yami's lap.

Everything that Seto said would happen happens. My food was delivered at 5 o'clock every Wednesday, when I go for week check ups no one asks me for money, just an ID card to make sure no one is stealing free doctor appointments from Seto Kaiba. The nurses make fun of me and almost hurt me with a needle when I tell them that Seto and I have never said a kind work to each since the first day we met at the tournament, the very same that Yami became a power to be reckoned with. My casts come off, and my stitches are out. Seto doesn't show for school for two weeks straight, so my life is good for the most part.

My teachers still hate my guts, and I lack any spending money to speak of, only when Grandpa is kind enough to let me work in the store, but I have food and I only have to clean up after myself and Serenity when she comes.

I clime into bed on a Sunday night, the gang and I went to Kaiba's theme park today and had a lot of fun. I am officially healthy and don't have to go back for more doctors appointment. I still can remember what happened that week before the accident.

Then a thought that makes my stomach drop in a pond of holocaust survivor piranha, what if Seto kicks me out without notice? I have no legal standing to be here, I don't pay rent, buy food, or do anything for Seto. I know it's out of the goodness of the Kaiba brothers' heart I can stay here, I don't think I would ever even think that, but from what I could gather that's really the reason. Seto really can't no to Mokuba and the only logical conclusion that I can get from that is that Mokuba has a little crush on Serenity, but still, my housing still relies solely on the good natured feelings of Seto Kaiba.

I toss and turn the entire night with that brewing in my head, wake up groggy and not in a good mood. I plan to walk the entire way to school, all 2 miles of it, just to cool my head, but that plan ends in catastrophic failure when I see a newsstand, buy the daily news, not because I really care what the republicans are doing wrong this week, because it has my face on the cover. Yes, my face as well as my whole body opening the door to the Kaiba's house.

* * *

Comment, review, what ever you call that new fangled clicky button that creates the screen where the words go that makes the author happy.

*Abridged series reference, I had to have at least one in the story.


	10. Chapter 10

The title "Joseph Wheeler, a home wrecker?" is above the picture. I take a closer look at the picture, I still had a few stitches and my arm still has a brace on it. What the Fuck!? My fist clenches around the newspaper, tight and tighter as I walk to school, hoping that Seto Kaiba is in school today.

Why would anyone care if I were living in Seto's auxiliary house? Just because I'm living in a house owned by Seto Kaiba means I broke Mai and Kaiba. They had legit reason for breaking up, or the other illogical statement, and I'm dating Kaiba. If this part of the sick ploy that Kaiba has in store for me, it's is one of the most complicated plans he could come up with me to publicly humiliate me. Why would spend so much time on a really stupid reason, does he really hate me that much?

When I walk into the courtyard, everyone is staring at me. I try desperately to ignore them, I hear some wolf whistle as I walk into the school and put on my shoes. I didn't ask for this, I took the help that was given to me, I should have gotten a job and moved out by now. I am very well aware of that.

I get to my seat, none of my friends are in school yet, and start to read the article. Some of my background information, not in the best light I must say, why I even know Seto Kaiba and Mai and how I'm a terrible person for breaking up such a lovely couple and temping Kaiba with my ways. I wouldn't be shocked if they accused me of using a pagan love potion. Also, that Mai is heartbroken, which I know for a fact is not true. The only truth I can get from it is that if Kaiba did have someone write this and this is part of a sick ploy, it is fucking insanely complicated and unnecessary a way to tell me to get out of his house or publically humiliate me, or whatever his reasons are.

I glance over to Kaiba's chair, empty and this is about the time he comes to school, Mai or Tea haven't come to school yet either. Instead I get a Tristan with huge smile coming in the door, followed by Yugi and Yami.

"There's the 'Tempter of the Great Seto Kaiba?'" I punch him the arm,

"Shut up, you know very well, the article is bullshit." Not making any attempting to hide my angry. Tristan for once in his life takes the hint and shuts up.

"It maybe, but the fact remains that you living where you do and it a little suspicious. Also, Seto broke up Mai when you were living there. You should really try to get in contact with Seto Kaiba, at least try to straighten this thing up. The media isn't a walk in the park, even when you didn't do anything wrong." Yugi says, also holding a copy of the today's new paper, crinkled, folded, and smashed. He has a point, and he knows very well what he's talking about. The media up surge about his relationship with Yami had him in tears by the end of day most days, and that relationship didn't break up the "Perfect couple". His nails are bitten to the finger, with blood at some parts.

"Don't worry Yugi, this relationship can cleared up quick. Anyone that knows us will know this article is bullshit of worst type. But my issue is that, I don't who would have done this. Mai already told me that it was mutual and Kaiba, it's shooting him the foot for portraying him as someone that can be subdued. And why anyone would care enough to put forth the effect to make me and Kaiba look bad is another question entirely." More people have come into the classroom by now; they still stare with a little whispering here and there. The bell rings, people are still staring, I really don't like being stared, hate it in fact, mostly I really hate people knowing my business.

I go to Yugi's house after school, sneaking out the back because I see a few reporters outside, being a rebel for the first year of high school has it uses, and partly I go there because I to get my revenge on Tristan for calling me a tempter all day by beating him in a Call of Duty one on one match. Also going home didn't sound like a great idea, reporters will be there. Why would anyone do this?

But, even if I tried to avoid them, two still found me on my way to Yugi's house. Two young, female, optimistic reporters from tiny magazines around the city walk up to us, one I recognize as a friend of Aki Izayoi. They click their pens, play with their recorders, and pull on their bags as they come to us, then they take a deep breath.

Duke Devlin and Yami Atem get a smile on their faces, a quick glace and Yugi nods. Yugi rarely notices their existence, and Serenity finds that fact that both men have fan clubs at our school funny. I had the pleasure of making friends with two best looking men in our entire school and enemy with the other. The smile isn't normal for Yami, it's almost malicious in a way that I just don't see, it reminds me more of Kaiba's pleasure at getting me angry with him. Before the reporters can ask anyone anything, Duke attacks, "Hey, can I show you card trick?". He takes a custom deck out, and fanning it out. Yami on the other hand, confidence just oozing,"Wouldn't an interview with a reigning champion be much more interesting then a stupid romance?". Both females blush and giggle a little, and completely immersed in our friends flirting. Yugi actually gave permission for Yami to flirt, man, that relationship really can't have jealousy issues.

We didn't stay long enough to see any drama play out, with the report distracted; we bolt to the game shop, walk in the door, covered in sweat, and greet Grandpa; he's looking better, but uncomfortable.

"Joey, Seto Kaiba asks you to meet him at this address, when you get the message." He hands me a piece of paper with an address I've never seen before on in Grandpa's handwriting. As much as my better judgment tells me not to go here, I want to know what Kaiba's up to and why. I grab the piece of paper, thank Grandpa and, leave. I have a little bit of trouble finding the place, I check and double check the address.

The place is indistinct; it's in a row of houses that look exactly like it, a grey two-story three-bed room house. I bang on the door, when no one answers; against all logic, I walk right in since the door is unlocked. The insides is again very indistinct as well, Ikea all over the place, there is nothing personal about not even pictures of family.

I take off my shoes before Seto Kaiba appears leaning against the doorframe. No white coat in sight, instead a suit and tie takes their place. The characteristic smirk is replace with displeasure.

"I see you found the place, even without help. I'm surprised." The comment is unassuming, and not his worst by far, in fact it's slightly true, my sense of direction is terrible. But something clicks and sets me off. The rage feels so familiar but I don't know why, I can't place where I've felt this last; yet as the seconds go by fear starts the creep up on me. Yet I'm not scared of Seto Kaiba. My fists clench to white.

"What the fuck? You insult me on a daily basis, remind me every fucking day that my existence is meaningless in this world, take the girl that I want, since the first day we met, we've never said a kind word to each other. Then you turn around and bring me to the hospital, worry about my health and pay my hospital bill, give me a house, food, warmth, clothes. Then, without any explanation, a news article about how I seduced you out the perfect relationship. You're a manipulative ass..."

I feel a warm sensation on my lips; it's rough, dominating; yet I can't find an ounce of hate in Seto Kaiba's kiss, just frustration. I'm paralyzed and my hand doesn't seem to want to listen when I tell it to push Kaiba off of me, nor does my legs want to listen when I tell them to run. Almost as quick as it came, he breaks the kiss. "Hole." I end my thought, yet the angry that was there a second ago had retreated. We go silent; I can't look Seto Kaiba in the eyes. I glace over to him, his eyes are closed and rubbing his temples. He just took my first kiss; I don't have any real reason to have a romantic notation about "firsts", in fact, part of me tell me that I should be happy that I finally lost it, I'm 17 already. But the other part of me tells me to cream Kaiba and break his nose.

"It shut you up, didn't it?" He turns on his heels and walks into the kitchen, and grabs a cup of coffee, before sitting down at the island, computer on his right and the very same newspaper that I have crammed and ripped in my backpack on his left. I look in the fridge for soda; to my luck there is normal high fructose laden soda, which supposedly gives Tea acne. I crack it open and sit at the island across from him, waiting for him to speak.

"This place is my father old apartment, he bought less then a year before he died and only used it once. So, very few people know that it exists, I though it would as good as any for this meeting. Mai and I did break up. The break up was mutual. Even in the beginning, it was a relationship of convenience. It got my board to stop putting me with these blondes that I found annoying at best, and Mai got the entire male body to stop sending her love letters and to send the message that she is off limits. I was the perfect candidate for that, and I know her well enough to be honest with her. It was financial and physical affair that worked for both of us. That brings you up to speed on the relationship at present."

Why does my mind instantly go to Seto and Mai, I didn't need that image to be engrained into my skull. I nod, not quite sure what to say to him about it. He just told me that he never really even liked the person he was going out with and really used her for sex, since no one got hurt by it, I can't tell if I should be angry at him or not. He takes a sip of coffee.

"But more to the point. Let's make a deal. I have a new product coming out; the mini-duelling arenas. I want you to play along with the media until that comes out, in exchange, I'll pay you're living expenses, plus seven thousand dollar a month pocket money."

So, that is his sick ploy, free publicity for a new product. Why did have to choose the most complicated way possible of advertising the fucking thing, doesn't it advertise itself? Aren't duel disks the most popular game system out there, beating the PS3 and Xbox? Wasn't Seto Kaiba up for some award for the technology in the Duel Disk? Doesn't everything Duel Monsters related that made by Kaiba Corp like destined to sell? Wasn't the Duel Disk voted the best cash cow ever last year by Time magazine, and one of the best inventions in the last 50 years? Why does Kaiba need to go to these extremes? I take a few second too many to answer.

"In laymen's terms, have a fake relationship with me."

I really don't have much of a choice, he'll kick me out and I don't have anywhere to go. I could never ask Yugi for a place to stay, Tristan has too many people in his house as it is, Tea's family will have my head a platter for breaking Mai's heart, Duke would probably have me forcing Serenity on a date or two and I could never force her to do that, even if Duke wouldn't do anything, Ryou and Bakura just no on that one, and Mom would never let me stay. I'm not sleeping with the asshole across the table from me, that's one I won't do.

"I'm not sleeping with you." He smiles, yes, he smiles, I think a poor African village just got covered in lava or the poor starving children in china gave up rebelling for better working conditions. For him to smile at anything besides stock returns is unhear of.

"You're not expected to, the worst you going to have to endure is a kiss. But get a haircut, you need it anyway."

Comment? Is Seto Kaiba completely OOC?

Happy tenth chapter, thank you everyone that read this thus far.


	11. Chapter 11

"I know." I take a sip of my soda, "Anything else that need change for you?"

He types a few sentences on his computer, and few clicks later, he doesn't answer the question, instead, my stomach grumbles.

"Yes one other thing," I perk up my ears, expecting a sarcastic remark translating for me to not be me. "For your stomach to shut up."

Not quite the answer I was looking for, but fair enough. Anyway, why I am still here? I should just leave and defeat Tristan at Call of Duty: Black Ops, I'll grab a bit on the way, I sure Burger World isn't completely out of my way to Yugi's house.

How long has it been since I've even been able to even think that, almost forever since I've been able to realistically do the simple of act of eating out, without budgeting for a week before. I hear more clicks, he isn't hungry I guess. I put my can in the recycle and start to leave. Kaiba close his computer and goes over the fridge, take a few foodstuffs out, grabs a chopping board, starts to cut up the vegetable and puts a pot on with water in it for the fresh pasta.

I sit back down, grab a glass of water, and watch him. He's good with a knife, and get through the vegetables quicker then I've ever seen. One has to wonder where he learned to cook; doesn't he have other people for those types of jobs? Then he takes out meat, lamb I read on the package. I pull my eyes away from his hands and take a look at his face for a second. He is handsome, even if I still consider myself straight even after that deal, and could rival "David". But I pull my eyes away and observe my soda can after I make my way up to his eyes. Intense wouldn't quite cut it, I knew he is intense about everything he takes seriously, but chopping up some foodstuff for a casual meal shouldn't be this intense, unless I'm missing something big time. The kitchens starts to smell good.

A plate is put in front of me, with a fork and knife on top of it. Kaiba takes the seat across form me, half expecting him to get back on his computer.

"Kaiba, where did you learn to cook? Don't you have people to cook and clean for you, I know Yami does." Again his face wipes clean of an emotion, to quickly to pin what it is, probably annoyance. I wait for a snide comment in response.

"Saying that I can't do normal household tasks?" What did I say?

"More like, why would you want to, I think that dream crushing is enough of a full time job." Burn? I take a bit of the lamb, and it melts in my mouth, I take another. I really shouldn't try to piss him, I am going to spend more time then I normally do with him. I slow my chewing for a second and repeat that phrase again, I'm going to spend my more time then I normally do with him. I give myself another day before I beg someone to let me stay with them and the deal I made fully seeps in.

"But this is really good, so really, who did taught you to cook?"

"My mother, she died when Mokuba was born. I still remember a lot her recipes from when I really little." Most normal conservation I've had with Seto Kaiba, ever. Besides that I'm right now having a normal conversation with Seto Kaiba, which is weird in and of itself because about three hours ago I wanted to at least physically harm him. I still give myself a day before I try to get out of this. Also, Yugi nor Yami will ever approve of this turn of events.

We exchange a few more lines of dialogue throughout the meal, ignoring the fact that this meal wouldn't have have left anyone alive a mere few hours ago and that we are in fact in the twilight zone, and I even stay for desert, ice cream.

I help put the dishes in the dishwasher, and put on my shoes to leave to the twilight zone.

"I have some else for you," He reaches in his inside coat pocket and pulls out Kaiba Corp Cell phone, Dphones as they officially called, a sleek touch screen phone no heavier then my duel deck, in fact it is almost same size just much thinner then my dual deck. The back of it has a Blue Eyes White Dragon engraved on it, I don't remember that ever being a limited edition decal one could get. Yet again another venture that Seto Kaiba tried and it was successful purely on the face that it's only phone that has holographic technology and fact that it can expand to a Duel Disk, the technology is over my head, and it is compatible with the normal one. But the only bad thing about that capability is that if one gets a call during the duel, the phone turns back into a phone for the duration of the call. The only issue that it had was that the price is over people heads, a good 200 bucks for a phone is ridiculous. He hands me the phone.

"My personal number is already programmed into phone, so is Serenity's and Mokuba's." I cram it into my pocket, and go to say good-bye. Instead, I meet a kiss. I push him off me.

"Next time you do that, out of public eye, I will bit you and I have come to know that stitches are not fun."

"We will have see if a dog's bit is worse then it's bark."

Well, back to real life. Where Seto Kaiba hates me and I am there again just to amuse him during school, because it's a given that he's smarter then the teachers. And I sort of liked the fact that Seto Kaiba was almost human. I just leave after that, not feeling like countering.

Going back to my house still doesn't seem like a good idea, so I go back to Yugi house, not before calling on Serenity on my new cell phone. After figuring out how to use it, sometimes I think that 3D phones are just unnecessary at the best and confusing as hell at worst, I get a few funny stares on the bus for my cell phone. I forget I am in the newspaper and my phone has a Blue Eyes White Dragon on it, I try to ignore them.

"Hey Joey. Nice newspaper picture, very flattering." Her normal cheerfulness comes through the phone.

"That's why I bought the paper, the picture of me was the best. So, how's school?" She probably did some backlash, her name was in the article, I have to guess she isn't bragging about how she's a good friend with the Kaiba brothers, or how Mokuba has a crush on her. I can't even start to think what Mom will say about that article.

"Good, I got an A on my history paper and, we started the badminton unit in gym" Pause, not really what I wanted when I asked. "My friends joked if they could get the newest products early, but really nothing. But you're worst critic is Mom right now, she furious, even more then when she found out you got beat up. Something about dishonouring the family, she won't listen to reason." Relief.

"I'm glad my idiocy came to nothing bad for you. But expect a few more articles." Hoping that she gets the hint.

"I'll see you Joey, have fun dating Seto Kaiba." She is smart.

"Bye." I hang up, and admire the phone. Very light weight, but sturdy, the screen is so smooth, wait, the number flashing on the ultra smooth screen isn't the number I know. Why does she have a cell phone that I didn't know about?

I walk into the main house and get attacked by Yugi, before even taking off my shoes or laying down my bag.

"I was getting worried, you and Kaiba don't get along. And when you were not here in about an hour. Anyway, hungry?"

"I ate with Kaiba. What did you expect? A death or two?" Weirdest thing I've had to say in a while, and when it is the truth, that still freaks me out. My friends jaws drop, a few literately. Unpeeling himself from my body, he shook his head.

"So, what was the consensus on the article?" I take off my shoes and flop on the coach next to Yami.

"A publicity stunt, for the mini duelling arenas coming out in a few weeks. Everything is sorted out." I hope I don't need to go into greater detail then that, it would be even more awkward to admit to agreeing to date Seto Kaiba. Then an alarm from the kitchen sounds and Tea, with Mai in tow come in the door, laden with shopping bags.

"Hey Tea and Mai, Dinners ready." Yami says.

"Don't worry, we already ate." Tea replies.

"Hey home wrecker, congratulation, now you have to deal with Seto and his media stunt." Mia takes a seat on the floor.

Heart broken, not quite. She seems extremely happy to not be the public light anymore, and down right amused by the article. I smile and eat my second dinner, which I will admit my first was better, but my second was by far more fun. Yugi drops the subject. Which I am thankful for, Yugi would worry incessantly about my health or well-being if he knew the terms of agreement. I'm flattered, but I think there is about .1% chance anything bad is going to happen. I don't think Mai has crazy fan boys or Kaiba, fan girls. My phone rings in my pocket, a text.

"Meet me at the Domino City Aquarium at 11 O'clock Saturday. Don't talk to reporters, it will only end badly." Why does Kaiba have to right about that?

"It's nothing."

I go home again at 10:30 and find no one waiting to report about me, crawling into bed around 12 and enjoy the silence of the house. There is no creaking, women screaming, no screaming in general, not even any whispering that I can hear. I know that no one will try to break into the house, two old women in the adjustment houses know me from working in the cafe that used to be here. Both have invited me over for cake at one point. The one on the right makes better cake. I haven't had the comfort of feeling safe, warm, well fed, and well clothed since I don't remember. At this point I love life, I still wish I knew what happened to my duel deck, but I don't think it would bode well to be found in the projects of Domino.

I'm having a bit too much fun making up Kaiba Corp products.

Anyway, comment. Did I even remotely get Kaiba?


	12. Chapter 12

**Tuesday:**

My alarm rings, slam. That was a good nights sleep, I still find myself shocked how nice an expensive bed is. I get ready for school, and buy the paper from the corner store on my way to school. The cashier smiles at me knowingly, I smile back. Again I wait for school to read the article, I lack the talent to read and walk.

Yugi has the same newspaper in his hand. All of it is the same bullshit as yesterday, the writers didn't even have anything more interesting to say on the topic. Some revelation of why Seto and I shouldn't date, it was hope? Something around those lines, not relationship advice, telling us to communicate well. Which might I add is the most substantial article in the newspaper. Yugi and I throw our papers away before class even starts and after facepalming a lot.

Neither Mai nor Seto, seems fit to call him by his first name, show up today either, and I was half expecting him to come, oh well, one more day of pleasant school days, even better since we have a sub. The reporters have not found out of my way out of the school nor has the glaring male population and the population that "knew what Seto and my bickering was all about" all along, it's called the service entrance, go straight home sneaking in a window and making sure the curtains are closed, and finally do my homework. The sub gave us a boatload, but I sit to do it, which even if homework isn't my favourite thing in the world, is nice to know that it is my biggest worry right now. I crawl into bed at 10, after spending an hour on number 18 to finally solve the damn thing (debating texting Seto for help, he's got to know).

**Wednesday: **

My alarm rings, slam. Again I buy the paper on my way to school and sit down at my desk, with Duke and Tristan leaning over my shoulder to read the article. Today is an gay rights leader, he is praising Seto Kaiba up and down for this. He logic is that when one of the largest corporation's chief executive officer is out right gay proves that gays are not scum of the earth, not his words but implied, and should be treated to marriage. Not commenting that Seto Kaiba is 17 and might be going through some weird ass phase. There is another guy did finally comment on the fact that I'm not rich, and praising Seto again for that fact and praising me as a working class hero, his words. The strangeness of the whole comment boggles my mind, he praising me for a chemical reaction that happened at the right time, well thats what I want the public to think.

"Working Class Hero, Ey, Joey?" Tristan says, smirking at the article.

"I know, they went from giving me useless advice to worshiping the ground I stand. Fuck if I understand it." I don't have a publist, I hope that I never will have one in the off chance that I don't know, I win a Nobel prize, so none of this is me driven. And fact that we are getting press is what Seto wants, because ever article does comment on what is coming out. I hear a few sniggers at my classmates, also reading the newspaper. I don't really blame them. The bell ring and the teacher walks in. She puts up the homework questions on the board, scratching the marker on the board slightly harder then necessary. Then starts to assign numbers to people, everyone crossing their fingers not to get 18.

"Ryou, 4...Yami, 12, Tea, 13... Joey, 18." I swear this teacher really has something against me, more then hating my guts for unexplained reasons. I write my answer on the board, and sit down. The student who wrote the answer explains the answer, until question 18. Which she explains, ignoring the fact that I got the answer right hence obviously know how to solve the problem. Yugi scribbles his answer out two seats up, bitchin' I got something right that Yugi didn't. Serenity calls after school.

"My working class hero. How's life in Domino?" I smile.

"Minus the mob of reporter, very good. I'm having fun finding ways to get away from them though. Yourself?"

"Nothing much, my classmates are still rather amazed that I know Mokuba, but I'm not correcting any of them on the inaccucites of the newspaper. Besides that mom is still being unreasonable about the whole situation. I will admit to not having corrected her about your move until the newspaper article, and she is fuming about not having the number to your cell phone. If you haven't noticed yet, your landline has been cut off."

"Why do you know that?" It is true I have not notice my lack of landline.

"Mom tried and got nothing, end of story. But she is fuming at me, asking if I know anything about the situation, still going on about dishonouring the family and Rex will not shut up." Wow, that doesn't sound like any fun at all.

**Thursday:**

My alarm rings, slam. Today's title is "A Rat in Purple.". These titles just took turn for the metaphorical. Quite the different turn then yesterday, from worshiping the ground I stand on to pushing me down and spitting on my face. Well, I hear that public opinion is fickle.

The article asks an ex girlfriend, because Mai refused to speaking out of heartbreak, that she knew he was gay from the first moment she spoke to him and he "was horrible and outright just rejected my advances. He didn't have any guilt about insulting me. He only cared about himself, his needs, his wants. It was always Seto, Seto and more Seto." I'm kind of sad to know that I wasn't the only one that he insulted on a regular basis, luckily there will no advances on Seto, so nothing to worry about there.

Next is how I'm using Seto for money. Which in some ways is the truth, but since the fact is well known between both parties, I can't say I feel to bad about it. How Seto is being played as a fool for continuing to pay for my living expenses. Then a list of living expenses, even if the numbers are overestimates, its a good five thousand a month in disposable income just to maintain me. Then compare that income to a how many cats could be saved not maintain a rat like me. I'm "stealing what isn't mine, sneaking into the cupboard at night and eating the corners off the sugar bag." Cute, but not answering the question of why Seto Kaiba can't spend his money on what he finds important (getting more money). I continue,

"But that sugar bag was stolen. Seto has no right to ruin his father's company over a fleeting crush. Whom he will soon throw to the side once he realizes that Joseph Wheeler is nothing special. The only good that came of his relationship might be Seto Kaiba will come his senses and stopping acting like a child about his holographic technology."

I snigger at the terrible metaphor and flip to the stock page, Kaiba Corp, up 3 percent since Monday. Everything up to there I find mildly amusing, and imgaining Kaiba whining, "Mine, I made it. It's mine." like a child.

Until a paragraph on Serenity "A artificially sweet girl who has tastes that only a Kaiba could keep up with." First sentence, and I couldn't stomach the rest. I swear to fucking god to these publicist use anything including nothing, by far the most bald faced lie I have ever read. I crumble up the newspaper and just throw it in the trash.

I find it odd that not one even said that it might be a publicity stunt, I do mean, not one magazine even suggested it. A new product is coming out and he's getting a ton of press, seems logical. Why do people care so much about fucking Seto Kaiba love life?

I glance over to Seto's seat, he is not here, but I hear whispers that Mai is coming five minutes before she even gets to our classroom. She walks in, and at least five heads turn towards me and then rapidly to her. I'm going to crush this rumour right now. Before I can, five guys asking her hand in marriage consume her. She declines all of them in one quick sweep and hops up on Seto's desk.

"So, what lies is the press spreading about my favourite puppy?" In same tone as always when she talks to me, perfectly cheerful. I hear whispers all around the room, well that's one rumour down. I hope that gets at least half of the male population off my case and not wanting to stab me with their steely knifes.

"That I'm a business expense, a rat, useless. You know, the norm. And that my sister is the devil reincarnate, that we are a family that is just dating the Kaibas for handouts" I try to keep my angry out of my voice, still without much success.

Mai's smile vanishes and concern replaces it. She hopes off the desk, grabs her bag. "Fuck it, Tea we're skipping school today." Then grabs Tea by the hand and drags her out the door and out of the school. The bell rings, teacher walks and starts the day. Again blatantly ignoring the fact that I am a sentient human being and who does know when the 30 years war ended, not really that I care that much. Serenity calls to tell me that the article is a great joke at her school, and there is nothing to worry about.

**Friday:**

No school, and everyone is busy, I watched TV for hours on end, no news though.

Next chapter: date.

Review please.


	13. Chapter 13

I get to the assigned place and time on time, my hair recently cut this morning by a random barber, still long enough to cover my ears and delightfully fall in my face. I wear what I normally wear on a non-school day, a green jacket and jeans. He can't expect me to suddenly change my style, or lack there of, for him or the press is more like it.

Girls whisper by my right and hop around for a couple seconds, Seto isn't a person to be late. I glance up from my phone. He is getting out of his car, a black two-seat sports car with the top down that if he were fifty would scream mid-life crisis. There is no white coat or tie in sight, just plain jacket and jeans combination. The shirt has duel monsters on the front, a Blue Eyes and a Red Eyes to be precise. I'm not shocked that Seto has something like that in his closet; I'm shocked that he wore out in public. But even if the T-shirt is childish, he looks good. I can understand why those girls were hoping up and down, he looks down right approachable right now. The girls giggle a little as he walk towards me.

"Hey Seto, you haven't been in school for a couple days." I have to act like a devoted boyfriend and with Yami and Yugi as my model; this should be a fun day. But if I can get through the day without laughing at myself or throwing my hands up in defeat, I think I'm the best actor ever.

"Sorry, work has kept me. Miss me?" I take that back, if I get through the day without laughing at Seto at inappropriate times, I think I'm the best actor ever.

"You know very well school isn't very interesting without you." I kiss him, catching him off guard, as much as he didn't show it. I smile at his reaction.

"Come on," grabbing his hand and pulling towards the door, "Let's look at some fish." He's trying with all his might not to look awkward when someone is showing him affection, even if the affection was faked. He should be used to this, I, for some reason, don't believe he liked any of the blondes that he dated. We buy our admission into the aquarium, also buying tickets for the dolphin show at 2. The tickets print out, the ticket-lady giving Seto googly eyes and being extra nice to him, not that I can't say that about many other women in the aquarium and a few men in the mix. Seto attaches attention everywhere now doesn't he?

We walk down the tunnel of jellies. Kids point at the jellyfish that swim by and squeal in delight when one of them comes close. Their parent there to make sure they don't break anything or drown, not really enjoying the time here, more bearing with it. While the jellies lazily go by, I bet not even noticing they are in an artificial environment, just noticing when the employees put the food in. I pull my eyes towards Seto, he traces a jelly's path. Back and forth along the tunnel.

"What would you think about a jellyfish as a pet? I mean, someone walks in your house and looks around. There's the kitchen, dinning room, and my pet jellyfish, Jaden."

Mindless babble, I hope that Seto will at least reply to my banter.

"I would much prefer a shark, if we are naming pets that we can't legally have. I prefer my animals to have a brain." No sarcasm, no insult and a downright normal reply, childish in a way. I might have to suspect that Seto Kaiba is a real human being, not a robot.

"But a jellyfish is pure nervous system and not to mention see-through. Come on, and they can be used as a nightlights." Beat that.

"But the fact remains, they look like large mould spores with tails." Without any irony in his voice, intense about everything even stupid arguments that mean nothing. But I have to admit True very true, I can't really win after that.

"Fine, Jellies down. But you just wait, I'll prove that a shark isn't the best illegal pet." I say defensively. His shoulders relax, his brows go back in place, but I still didn't get a smile out of him. The whole conversation is ridiculous and both of us know it. But are to stubborn to admit what the other said was amusing. But we have to play a devoted couple for at least a couple of weeks meaning that Seto can't tell me shut up. So, mind as well try to embarrass Seto Kaiba while he has to pretend to like me.

We go through penguins, sea lions, poplar bears, and stingrays. None of which I can prove are as good as a shark, I get close with the penguin before he counters with the fact that they waddle to walk. Even having a documentary voiced by Morgan Freeman can't beat that. The last animal is the tropical fish, which we both agreed doesn't stand a chance against a shark, then we sit down for lunch. Also, first thing that Seto Kaiba and I agreed on in almost ever, besides that Duel Monster is a fun game. We order, he pays the bill as I get the ketchup. We grab a table out of view from the general public walking past to see the boring tropical fish. I take a bit of my burger, while Seto Kaiba takes a knife and fork to eat his.

"I haven't yet found an animal that is better then a shark, what's so great about them anyway?" In a monotone he replies,

"Aerodynamic, has a 1,000 teeth at one time and never run out, they have the strongest bite in the animal kingdom. Plus they have an entire week devoted to them and Mythbusters easily blew them up five times. What's not to like?" Did he watch way too many shark specials when he was younger, or more likely; Mokuba forced him to watch them. Morgan Freeman versus an entire week and Mythbusters. Damn the week wins and he knows it. Why aren't there more penguin myths that involve blowing shit up?

I take a sip of my milkshake and stare into space for a couple seconds. So far, we haven't killed each other and I'll admit I'm having some fun trying to prove Seto Kaiba wrong. Why is he humouring me so long is something I can't grasp, he has got to have better things to do today and he isn't getting annoyed or even acting like I'm wasting his time. I push the thought out my head; his time isn't my concern, but the different in taste of my chocolate milkshake to his vanilla is my concern. Half wondering what he'll do if I steal a sip; I snatch it up and take a large sip. I take extra care to be as rude as I can allow myself to be and he can't insult me. He realizes that I stole his milkshake and instead of being undignified and trying to snatch it back, he says,

"If you're going to make a "There Will be Blood" reference here, forget it. You can't do a Daniel Day-Lowis impression." And I was having an, at least, pleasant day and Seto goes, and ruins my fun.

"I still drink your milkshake." I take another sip, and trying to imitate the movie. "Drink it up." Before I put the cup back to where it was, empty. Brain freeze, that was a poor idea.

"Fair enough, I can't stop you from quoting a great movie. But that brain freeze was pay back." I stifle a laugh. He cuts another piece of his burger, dips in ketchup and eats it. Give no sense that he knows how ridiculous he looks, eating a burger with a knife and fork and saying that entire comment without any ironic in his voice or acknowledging the fact that if he were a cute girl that would be considered flirting in my book.

Speaking of cute girls, two of them come up to our table holding trays of food. One has a clip in her hair with a Toon Blues Eyes, the other has a toon Dark Magician. Probably Serenity would wear one of those, there has got to be a Toon Red Eyes, or Baby Dragon.

"Hey, can we share a table, all the rest are full." I look around and that statement is true, there are no tables open. The next question is why our table? I glace over at Seto and almost headtable. They're teenagers and female and Seto Kaiba is an attractive teenage male. I give them a smirk,

"On one condition, no flirting with my boyfriend." Those words left a strange flavour in my mouth, not a flavour that I find utterly disgusting though. I can't quite place them, I don't know I want to taste it again or leave it be. Probably I should just leave it be for now, but its one thing to read whom I'm dating and entire another one to actually say those words. I take a breath; it's only for a few weeks. I think I can live through that. I look up, the girls left without taking a seat.

I finish my fries and he finishes his burger, and we go to the whale show.

We grab a seat up front in the massive outdoor amphitheatre, 1:55. He checks his phone, five missed calls and 10 texts. Without reading them, He puts the phone back into his inside pocket. He really hasn't checked his phone once, now has he? The lights dim and spotlights shine on a cute 20 something in a one-piece bath suit. She's carrying many plastic hoop and balls for the dolphins to jump through; she grabs one and holds it over the tank. The grey dolphins jump effortlessly through. A few more tricks, a ball-balancing act, a person balancing act, and a couple more amazing tricks. She controls the dolphins with a wave of her hand or gentle touch all with an ever-present smile, to be able to control an animal that well would be cool. She stops spinning and flipping the dolphins and says into the microphone.

"I'll need a participant from the audience" All the little kids in the audiences raised their hands, jumped up and down wanting to play with the dolphins. She looks around for a second and says,

"The brunet in the front row." We look around, and realize that we are the only ones in the front row and Seto is the only one that has even remotely brown hair.

"Don't flirt too much, you'll make me jealous." A look that could revival zero Kelvin in chill is brought my way. I smirk, still can't do anything about it, he has to prove to the press that I am in fact his boyfriend and he didn't just "break" Mai Valentines heart for nothing. But I don't really understand why the look, I'm playing what he's paying me to play.

"You know very well that I have eyes only on you." Corniest line he could possibly think of, did Mai force him to watch terrible rom-coms with her or something?

He walks to the very small platform in the middle of the tank via a bridge, not before sticking all technology in his coat and taking it off, the girl enthusiastically tells him what to do, getting closer then necessary and touching him more then she needs to explain what he has to do. I let myself smile, I have someone that someone else wants, even if the relationship is fake, it's a nice thought to have in the back of my mind. They, a few stagehands, bring out a bucket of fish, which I could smell from my seat and Seto scowls at. She grabs the mic again.

"We have a bit of treat for you today, Seto Kaiba, yes the Seto Kaiba, will be feeding the dolphins today." He isn't happy at all, but he does what is asked of him, and grabs a fish, hold it over the tank and waits for a bit. She gets a bit and grabs another fish, but holds it out in front of Seto. She gets a bit, but the dolphin goes too far in-platform, knocking Seto over and head first into the water. He makes quick work of the tanks and gets out. His clothes are dripping, hair plastered to his forehead, smelling slightly of fish and looking as if his company just went under or if someone just told him that Mokuba Kaiba didn't like Duel Monsters.

He snatches his coat out of my hand and he goes back to this car. Ignoring the apologetic management and staff, the offering of towels or extra clothes. He gets in, I follow, and then he declares like its the most important revelation in the world,

"Joey" Pause, "I will never get a dolphin as a illegal pet, ever." I can't help but laugh, after getting publicly humiliated that is what he has to say. I'm actually pretty sure that Seto Kaiba is on this side of human. Let's see if I can finally get him to at least smile, I'll count this day a success. I go dead serious,

"Seto," Pause, "Dolphins suck." Then I go back to sniggering, then finally, he smiles. (One dead Pembroke Welsh Corgi puppy)

You should watch that movie. It's epic.

I know Seto is out of character.

To think I wanted the date to summed up in one chapter. =)

Review and stuff?


	14. Chapter 14

Day success, I got Seto Kaiba to genuinely smile at something I said! But why did I want to make him smile? I guess to prove to myself that he is human, not a computer bent on destroying me and I have a chance of surviving these next couple weeks with my sanity in one piece. His smile fades after a few seconds, as smiles tend to do. We don't say anything for rest of the ride to his mansion, a place I have never actually been before.

The mansion is in a gated community with a large black steel gate that one can't look through. The house is very prison like. We get past the gate without any trouble and I finally get a look at the outside of the mansion. The gardens are well taken care of, the grass mowed and the bushes shaped into puffballs with feet, Kuriboh bush seriously? Here I'm expecting a Blue Eyes bush somewhere on this vast plantation in the middle of a massive city, like that isn't weird or anything. As we drive past I see a few buds on the bushes, if those are rose bushes I might have to puke, and next to the Greek inspired fountain. Two, or more, people had a hand in making the landscape of this house, two very different people. We get to the front door and there is a guy in tailcoat and white gloves waiting for us. Seto gets out of the car, without taking the keys out of the ignition, I follow suit.

"Welcome home sir." The guy bows, seemly unfazed that Seto is still dripping wet and goes to park the car, I expect. The French oak front door opens and Mokuba runs out with a massive smile on his face, and is about to hug Seto before he realizes that wet clothes aren't fun.

"I'd like to hear the story of this. I'll hug you after you're changed. Come on Joey, while Seto is changing and dinner is being made, want the grand tour?" I nod and follow him through the front door, as Seto goes to shower and change. After the grounds the house can't be any worse then the union of classical Greek and Duel Monsters.

The front hall is a grand marble amalgamation of silk rugged staircases with twisting banisters and crystal chandlers. The walls are spotless and floor has the Kaiba Corp logo made in marble tiles. How does someone morally defend this type of expenditure? We move on down the hall, floored with a silk carpet and lined with painted pictures of what I could get random stuff. There were no theme to the pictures, one was a Chinese piece, and another was American. Mokuba disinteresting states the room as we past them, "Parlour, library, living room number one, bathroom, bed room." I glace in them one by one, they are like the front hall, pointlessly grand and luxurious. Truthfully, I prefer the little cabin, comparatively, that I was given to live in. Who needs more then one living room? And a parlour: what's the difference between that and a living room?

Then Mokuba stops in front a door, "Game room, movie theatre, and sundae room." That is something I'm envious of. Who doesn't want a room just for making sundaes? I open the door and see every kid's dream, when your brother is the CEO of the largest gaming company in the world and a genius with technology; I guess this is one of the perks. The room is massive with couches and cushions everywhere, the walls are lined with every game controller that ever existed since the 1970's, yes even the Virtual boy, and a TV that takes an entire wall. Mokuba didn't get the OCD gene from his brother and the high tech toys are thrown all about the floor.

Something bits my jeans; I look down to find a Blue Eyes White Dragon that about a foot and half from tip to tail. When it realizes that I've spotted it, it growls a little until another one comes by, that dragon rubes against my leg and growls at the other. Then they both flap their wings and land on my shoulders. Half of me want to pet them, the other half think that my hands won't have a few fingers if I did.

"What do you think? Seto is thinking of selling them in stores, once he figures out to get them down to a normal price, not a couple thousand each." He says with the other one sitting on his shoulder, nibbling his ear.

They're beautiful creatures to say the least. Every light blue scale is in place and from the looks of it hand made, and polished to a perfect shine. The most amazing thing is that they don't look like they are made of metal, not in the least. The outside looks like a living breathing reptile, an epic one.

"I would buy one, that's for sure. But probably a Red Eyes or a baby dragon. If Seto allows them to be made." He smiles and grabs a controller.

"Right now the KC research lab has a Kuriboh, which is by far the most adorable one that Seto has made up to now. When they do go commercial, I'll be the one that will have to break it to Yugi that he can't get a Dark Magician, people would look funny."

"Their amazing, really amazing. Very life like." I grab a controller.

"Just a rule of thumb, I normally do testing for a lot of Seto's prototypes of new toys. So, if you spot a few toys that you can't find on shelves, don't bother playing with them, they're not worth it. Seto calls it work, I call I get new toys ever couple months. But, I'm not about to correct him; it lets him forgo the guilt of giving me a hundred dollar a week for allowance. But these are by far my favourite since the duel disk." He collapses on to the coach in front of the massive TV. The blues eyes curls up besides him much like a cat would. Guilt, I can't even start to think that Seto Kaiba can ever feel that emotion.

"I don't think I'll have time for lame ones." Really taking in the vast number of toys that Mokuba has. I take a seat next to him, while the blue eyes frolic, yes frolic with each other. Who would have though that Kaiba could ever even made anything that would frolic?

He turns on the TV, "Want to play? I refuse to use any virtual reality games Seto comes up with, after a few minor miss haps. " I press start and start to smash the button into oblivion trying to beat Mokuba at Call of Duty: Duel Monsters edition. Yes, we are duel monsters with guns, the game is on acid and I hope that it is never wide release because it would bomb. But it does satisfy the desire I've always had to killing Nazi zombies with white lighting attack.

Mokuba and I are tied at 2 to 2 when the blue eyes white dragons hops up from our sides and fly over to Seto, who walks into the game room, showered and changed into black pants and black T-shirt. Mokuba puts the controller down and runs to hug his big brother.

"Grand tour?" He playfully smirks, his eyes soften and his shoulders relax.

"The rest of the house is boring, no one cares about the four other living rooms."

I feel kind of guilty; Mokuba can't see his brother all that much and I just took an entire day of his time

"I see Joey has met, Prototype 1, 2 and 3." Seriously, no real name for these guys. I think they deserve it at least a little bit.

"So, when does the red eyes go on shelves?" I know it's stupid, by my pride won't allow me to directly compliment anything Seto does to his face.

"After the Blue eyes."

"Ladies first, I guess." Before that escalates, a servant comes in to tell us that dinner is ready.

The dinning room is again overly large and grand for anyone's actual needs, again in the Greek-duel monster combination that still doesn't work very well. They're conflicting styles first off and the way they place isn't artistic in the least. It looks like someone was going to revamp the house then they got too busy or something. The table can fit everyone I know plus their dogs, cat, parrots and, their dog's friends, without a chair on either end or anyone straddling a leg. There are three placement at the end of table, with three different forks, spoons and knifes.

Seto and Mokuba take a seat next to each other, and I take a seat across from Seto. Almost instantly, our glasses are filled by the guy with white gloves with wine and milk for Mokuba, because none of us old enough to drink. And then a plate with something I can't quite name is put in front of us. The smell is amazing though, I stab it with my fork and take a bit out of it, completely ignoring the knife or what fork I use.

"I seem to remember that table manners exist, unless you want to prove to me that you are in fact a mutt." I smirk at the comment, pay back for that ladies first comment. Back to insulting me I guess. Makes sense, not saying that I deserve to be insulted, once out of the public light or trying to get me to do something he would go right back to insulting. Him in the species of human, don't make me laugh, he's a computer. I had a good day today, and I probably should have more table manners. Mokuba drops his fork and goes under the table to retrieve it. Lets see what happens if I don't reply with a snide comment. Instead I pick up a fork and knife and try to use them properly.

"So, which fork do I actually use? I've always used one in a meal and it works fine by me." I realize in five minutes after that comment that edikat lessons with Seto Kaiba would not sell well, at all. Don't get me started at what Seto has to say when I took a sip of wine and could barely swallow.

I go with Seto to his home office after dinner. The room is as big as my entire apartment with books going around one of the four walls and white boards on two covered in tiny writing and quick sketches. The whites board obviously had been put in without much thought to atheistic of the room, the room is filled with dark woods and darker carpets. But my favourite part is the massive windows looking out on the garden, which brings in much needed light into the room.

Seto takes a seat behind the massive desk, back to the window. He opens the top drawer of the desk and takes out an envelope, with the word "Joseph wheeler" clearly written in his neat little handwriting. I take a seat in the chair closest to him.

"As per our agreement, a thousand dollars" He flings the envelope landing right in front of me, obviously unevenly weighted, and doesn't look like it could even hold ten pieces of paper, because a thousand dollar bills don't exist yet. More money then I've ever had in my bank account ever, a more then a month's salary, is just sitting right in front of me waiting for me to put it my wallet. All for pretending to like Seto Kaiba and not to harm him when he kisses me, since he wasn't insulting me all day, wasn't all that hard. I grab the envelope.

"Thanks, now I can pay Yugi for always paying for lunch." Among other things that I can finally do since I not scraping together rent money or money for cable, not that I could actually afford that, but my father would always drinking the equivalent on my dime because I'm 17 and my bank account has to be connected to his.

I almost drop the envelope when I think that, minus that my palms have started to sweat for a reason I can't grasp. Probably the fact that I have to carry around a thousand dollars in cash for my father not to steal me blind, I might have to invest in a small safe.

"You'll be staying the night tonight. I said that you would never have to sleep with me, but I never said that I didn't want the public to think we did." A smirk I know very well ends up on his face, I glare but say nothing in response. I can't and he knows it.

I walk out the office, and start to rip open the envelope. I get half way through opening when Mokuba walks by, looking spaced out.

"Do you want to break our tie?" He snaps out of his trace,

"Yeah, I'll meet you in the game room in about ten minutes." His voice sound distracted as his eyes travel to the envelope in my hand. He's got to know what's happening, he knows just as well as I do that Seto and I could never actually date each other and if the public wasn't criticizing our every move I wouldn't be here right now.

"I'll see you in ten." I say, running off to the game room, just to be greeted by three robot blue eyes dragon nipping at my ankles in play and flying near my head. They are extremely happy to see me, who would have thought that Seto wouldn't program to attack when spotted. I open the envelopes fully; a debt card falls out, a piece of paper with a pin on it and a checkbook. The debt card is from the Kaiba Bank; something from what I remember is Seto father's creation and has a Red Eyes on the card and my name. I have to wonder if just giving me the cash wouldn't have been easier, but then I realize that he pays people 60K a year to listen to him.

The night goes smoothly, Mokuba and I are up until 2 AM, only stopping because Seto comes in and tells Mokuba to go to bed and since I have lost my gaming partner, I find no reason to stay up. With a Blue Eyes by my side I go to bed in an extremely comfortable king sized bed.

My alarm rings, slam? Nope, no alarm, no snooze button just the fact that I just had a sleep over with my enemy, but no gossip about the hottest girl included. I smile at the image of Seto gossiping about the hottest girls or who he has a crush on, and then cringe at the thought of him having any sort of crush. I shower, change into the outfit that is in the closet, red on black, step out of my room, turn towards the dinning room.

And there is Seto Kaiba in nothing but swim trunks, just what I wanted to see in first thing in the morning. The bright side is that he isn't in a speedo, I might have to put a fork in my eyes literally. Both of us don't move for a couple seconds, enough to completely run my eyes down his body, not that I really cared just that to able to fully grasp the situation.

His hair is plastered to his head, soaking wet, with a towel hung over his shoulder. His eyes sending me rays of pure hate, more intently then I've ever felt before. To but the rays in scale, now is like the electron shell sized compared to the atom's nucleus or a Kuriboh's attack points compared to the attack points of Blue eyes ultimate dragon. My eyes move down, flurries of scars run across his chest, arms and a few on his legs. The scars aren't scars that I got from my many fights with drug dealers, not even close. They're scars of voluntary submission to a unfair punishment, their much too clean for him to have fought back. I can't take my eyes off, I almost feel the need to blush for seeing something that incredibility personal. All of them years old, but the fact that he still has them visible from five feet away means that they were deeper then I would wish on my worst enemy, standing right in front of me. Even the cuts and scraps I got from the place I can't remember are nearly that deep.

"Sorry, I should be getting to breakfast." I turn to go to breakfast.

He doesn't respond.

* * *

Who wants a Blue Eyes robot, sounds really cute? =)

Anyway, school started for me today. So, in the coming weeks don't be shocked if my updates aren't as frequent. I'll try once a week. Don't worry I will not forget about this fan fiction, I'm having by far too much fun for me to stop.


	15. Chapter 15

He doesn't show up for breakfast on the excuse of work overload, but Mokuba is pleasant to talk, so I can't complain about his lack of presences. In fact I kind of liked eating eggs and bacon to my heart content on fine china with silverware with the Kaiba Corp logo on it and milk out of the wine glasses. How he got those scars is really none of my concern but I just have to wonder if he isn't the spoiled brat that I thought he was.

When I get back to my room and my phone is ringing off the bedside table, Yugi. I ignore it and look at my missed calls; everyone that knows this phone number has decided that they should call me. Serenity, Yami, Yugi, Tea, Duke, Mai all called me at least three times since eight in the morning. I'll invite myself over to the game shop later to explain myself and makes sure that Yugi doesn't hyperventilate. I should read the newspaper today, but just not right now.

Yugi is going to kill me for this, or Yami might for making Yugi worry about me so much. I said everything was straightened out, he doesn't trust that Seto and I can be in same room alone without maiming each other. So, a massive house with sound proof walls and very few staff, and the fact that I was forced to kiss him yesterday, probably Yugi wouldn't be shocked to see a missing Kaiba report tomorrow. But worse then the thought of a dead Kaiba, I basically lied to him to put myself in harms way.

I take a breath and go to the game room to see if Mokuba is there to play a game to get my mind off this.

The good news is that he is, with his brother fully clothed. They're sitting at one of tables in the room, little versions of their monsters fighting each other on the product that I'm part of advertising scheme for. Both concentrating on the board and don't look up when I walk into the room. So similar but very different all at the same time, their backs are slightly bent and hands gripping the cards. I travel up to their eyes. Mokuba's are filled with child like excitement at the duel, Seto's relief, almost frighteningly forceful.

Work over load? As much as this is the perfect time to make fun of him, I'm really not going to be that much of an asshole to him. I'll use a lot against him, but that isn't one of them. From what I understand, rarely do people brag about scars. I take a seat next to the game; they finally realize I'm here.

"It's not very nice to completely wipe the floor with your little brother." Commenting on the fact that Seto hasn't even lost a life point, and Mokuba is barely holding on. Seto flips a card, attacks and wipes Mokuba's points out.

"Do you want me to wipe the floor with you next?" Minus that he wouldn't.

"I would, but my deck is an unknown location right now. So, I can't wipe the floor with you right now." I'm very casual about the fact that my deck is lost, partly because I am very sure where it is and that it is perfectly safe. The one up side to my father laziness, he wouldn't even bother trying to tear my desk open. But to lose a deck is the worst thing possible if you're a duellist, kind of like if you insulted the pope in the Middle Ages sort of thing. (This is what I get for actually studying.)

"Use Mokuba's and the first duel won't count. But when you find it, I do want a rematch. So, I can rightly kick your ass." He smirks as he shuffle his deck, I grab Mokuba's a start to look through it. His cards aren't bad, a mecha deck with concentration on trap and spell with shockingly few very powerful monsters. Here I am thinking that he would mirror his brother's deck. I start to shuffle as Seto ends. He looks through his deck and takes out three cards. Don't tell me that he seriously just, he turns them towards me, took out his three blue eyes white dragons from his deck. Even I know that will cripple his deck, pretty much just decapitate it. His strategies revolve around those three cards. Does he really think that low of me that I can't hold a candle to him?

"Unless you have a death wish, I would advise putting those back." He smirks.

"I'll take my chances." Asshole.

And they don't pay off, I actually won against him and I have a witness. That smirk wipes completely off his face instantly, and he looks like I just killed his mother or something. Mokuba looks more a like dead fish. Instead I smirk; I'll have to thank Yugi for everything he taught me about duel monsters.

"Let's duel for real this time." And we do, but this time he unfortunately wins. Ok, so I can't beat him with his actually deck, but it makes a good story to say that I beat Seto Kaiba in a duel though. And he's really good and I can now understand why Yugi had some trouble beating him. But the look in his eyes still scares me.

"Can I go home now, I've stayed the night."

"Trying to get out of here as fast as possible after that humiliating lose." He's acting the same as he always does around me, like an arrogant bastard. I guess the relatively normal person I kind of sort of could get along with yesterday was an act; it could have fooled me. He takes the best actor ever award, hands down. I can hear the Oscar coming.

We don't say a word the entire ride home, not one single word for the entire 15-minute ride home. Not that we really have anything to say to each other, today has been weird enough. I still want to know where those scars were from. He parks in front of my house, and gets out. I see that he hasn't forgotten our little act. I open the front door and turn toward him for a good-bye kiss as I have seen many many couples do.

I put my arms around his shoulders and give a him a small peck, we break. His arms go around my waist, and he pulls me towards him, not roughly in anyway, but with an urgency that I've seen in terrible romance movies or when I accidentally walked in on Yami and Yugi making out. He goes in for another kiss, longer then last time then something warm licks my lips. I let it in; the public will love this. We fight for dominance; I find my fingers going through his hair and his hands lowering. He gets a few inches from my ass and I break the kiss, no freaking way I'm letting a reporter getting a picture of that. With my arms still around Seto, I whisper in his ear,

"I had a good time yesterday at the Zoo." I kiss him again and go into the house.

After I finish my homework and read the front of the newspaper online today. I click on an article titled "Confirmed." The article starts with a slideshow of Seto and I on our date, a few of them are when Seto is soaking wet and pissed. I click through it; even I would believe that we were dating from the photo evidence provided. There are a lot of the few kisses we shared, and when I'm shooing off those teenage girls. I'm smiling in a few of the pictures, and the smile doesn't look faked in any way. I stop an unassuming picture of Seto and I just hold hands while walking near the penguins. The creepy thing is that we don't look awkward together against all logic. We should, a successful CEO next to a scrawny, messy, street punk with a scar above his eyebrow. Again going on about how I'm using Seto Kaiba for money, and he is using me for sex and all that bullshit. According to this article I am Seto Kaiba's whore. Luckily nothing about Serenity, I really hope Yugi doesn't believe that he's using me for sex or in fact that I had sex with him. But seriously here, they're making a huge deal of a teenager's sex drive. The good side is that they took the bait; I close my computer and go off to the game shop. Partly dragging my feet because the gang will have my skin for this little stunt of mine.

On the way I call Serenity. Ring, ring, and pick up.

"Hey Sen." Instead, I get my mom because I definitely didn't want to talk to Serenity.

"So think you're better then us because you're screwing a CEO. Don't think you have to give your own mother your phone number." My hand grips the phone slightly harder, but it's no use to even try to talk back right now because I can't correct her. People are looking at me, and not because my mother is yelling into the phone, and our cover would be blown. She continues,

"You go off and leave us to get the back lash. I can't show my face at work, that is all they talk about how my son is gay and screwing a businessman for money. My boyfriend can't get respect from his gym mates; his boss won't take him seriously. And Rex is getting bullied in school getting called a fagot; he would never do this to us. " My phone is getting gripped slightly harder. I won't have to if I could afford not to, if I could afford to say no to Seto Kaiba, I wouldn't have to pretend to like him. If I had somewhere to go I wouldn't have to. I want to yell that he doesn't have agree to ridiculous publicity stunts because he isn't a failure of a son, he is welcomed with open arms to have a place to live.

"At least I have someone that finds me attractive, that more then can be said about you." I don't have any guilt about what I've done to her, those words or what my relationship may do to her, mean as that may seem, I can't find the emotions to feel guilty. That space is taken over my angry.

'Don't expect to see Serenity." She hangs up. How can she do that, I call back. No answer. Bitch, asshole, bastard, taking Serenity's phone away from her, fucker, god damn it. I didn't even get to talk to her. I drag my feet into the game shop, not really up the skin that will be taken from me today, alive.

* * *

Review?

So, is Joey's mother bitchy enough for you?


	16. Chapter 16

Warning: a pissed off Bakura is in this chapter. =)

My hand pauses at the game shop handle, I take a breath, then I go in. The little bell rings, I hear from the back room Grandpa' voice, "I'll be with you in a minute." I can feel my heart beat in my chest.

"Don't bother, I'm not buying anything." Grandfather comes out the storeroom anyway. He isn't smiling, he just looks incredibly tried and bedraggled. I give him a smile, he doesn't reciprocate. He just says

"Everyone is up stairs and you have a lot of explaining to do." Without further ado, I go up stairs into the living room. When I walk in they all stare at me. Everyone is there, even Ryou and Bakura. Yugi is cuddling up to Yami and I can barely see his face. Tea, Tristan, and Duke have looks of disapproval on their faces; Ryou's fingernails are worn to the finger. Mai isn't here. Yami has his arm around Yugi, but his eyes on me. I have to force myself to look into his blood red eyes, confusion. Bakura looks really uncomfortable in Yugi's house and in any other context would be funny. Bakura is the first to speak,

"You fucking asshole." I deserve that, more then I know. Yami cuts in at this point before I get eaten alive by Bakura or worse, hurt. He is armed and not afraid to hurt whoever hurt Ryou. Yami's voice is sharp and commanding, not to be messed with.

"Bakura, I don't think that was completely necessary, he didn't just strangle Ryou to death. But Joey, what possessed you to agree this? Everyone here knows that you have never spoken a polite word to Seto Kaiba, then sleep with him. I don't know, it just doesn't sound not like you at all. So I can't really make head or tails of what you did."

"I never slept with him." Before I can say anything of substance, Bakura cuts in,

"So, you're happy being Seto Kaiba's little lap dog? It's your freedom or your dignity. Hey, I hear it's a pretty cushy deal." Every single word feels like belt bucks on raw flesh, tearing away a delusions that I had about the deal I made with Seto Kaiba. Because what he just said was the cold hard truth, I am Seto Kaiba's lap dog. I'm a temporary one at that, without any hope of having any permanence. He gives me a treat if I roll over when he says to, he scratches me behind the ears if I fetch the stick and bring it back to him. A small smudge on his perfect record of blond poodles, just dirty enough to cause a ruckus and clean enough to not get any paw prints on Seto's white coat. A mangy mutt that he has completely control of.

Everyone is staring at Bakura, the places switch. Everyone else looking uncomfortable, I see that opinion is a common one. I can't fault anyone for it either. I have to reply.

"Or have neither my dignity or my freedom. Sorry I felt backed in a corner with nowhere to run. It doesn't matter now anyway, we'll stop with this publicity stunt after the Mini Duel arenas are on store shelves." That was a slap in the face to Yugi and to everything Yugi stands for. I just discounted everything Yugi and I have gone through, when I was in deperate need of help and went to Seto Kaiba. He'll take this personally.

"You know very fucking well that you're always welcome to stay here any time you need to. Yami, I nor Grandpa will mind." Everyone goes silent and I don't know how to react or reply to that. Everything that comes to mind will make it sound like Yugi was a terrible friend. Which is the last thing I would describe him as, he's the best friend I could ever wish for. He's been there when I needed, he didn't forget about me when Yami came along, as people tend to do when they get a boyfriend. Truthfully, I don't think anything I will say will make Yugi feel better. Yugi's shoulders are slumped, is about ten seconds away from crying.

"I know, sorry." is all I get out before I turn and run, cowardly as is. I couldn't deal the hurt look on Yugi's face.

My feet hit the pavement hard in new dead cowhide shoes that, the newest in style by some designer in Paris. They are perfectly polished by some staff member in Seto's mansion, pre-stretched to make them comfortable. I trip over a rock, and my pants take a rip in the knee, but shame keeps me running. I take no thought to where I am going I stop when my lungs are burning and whip the sweat away from my brow with a new black coat. 100% wool and perfectly tailored to my body, I feel like I'm going to puke back up the organic peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole wheat bread I had for lunch.

I look up and find myself in the park in a very wooded area; this is the place I would go to think when I was a little kid with Serenity playing within eyesight because Mom always used to promptly put me in charge of watching Serenity, which I was happy to do. No ever comes here, well that I've ever encountered. I take a seat on the grass under a massive oak tree.

Back when I didn't need to sell my dignity for a meal, not that really had any to begin with before I, I, agreed to this stupid stunt. When I was still living with my father, I would often having to beg the landlord to not charge us the late fee for out rent, explain where the yelling was coming from and I would get the flack when my father used to puck on stairs. I was even the one that had to go to the food bank when my job wouldn't quite make the food bill that month. I feel tears forming, I guess my father was right, I can't really do anything myself. I will always need help with what I try to do. God, am I pussy, crying? I can't be serious, I just hurt Yugi and I'm the one crying. I wipe my tears away.

"Hey, Yugi told me you would be here." I jump to my feet and turn around. Yami is leaning against the oak tree; his face is shows no angry I could read. I sit back down, but don't reply nor look him in the eyes. He takes a seat beside me.

"No one thinks less of you for doing this, you had your reasons. Just none of us can fathom why, and I can't figure out why Seto Kaiba chose you. I've known the guy since we were kids, and he has never been one to use underhanded tactics to advertise anything. If you needed somewhere to go you could have stayed with us, because as much as you won't admit it to anyone, your home life is bullshit. But there are too many ifs ands or buts, the situation is what it is." His voice is calm and steady and much like one he used with Serenity when she was eight. I glace toward him, but still don't reply. I don't deserve friends like mine. He continues,

"I'm not here to repair Yugi and your friendship, I'm here because I want to know why you chose to go along with Seto Kaiba."

"I just felt trapped into the agreement. And frankly, it was the easiest way, so I took it. I wasn't about to force myself on to you, injured, broke and confused. Yugi was completely torn about his grandpa's illness, and you could barely handle life at that point. So, no I wasn't about to take advantage of Yugi's unending kindness and your devotion, that just seemed more selfish then I could possibly be. Both of you had more then you could deal with. When I made it I didn't want to admit it myself what I agreed to. But I'm fine; I didn't have much dignity to begin with." Yami doesn't speak for a couple of minutes and I have nothing to say.

"Easiest way, eh? I can see your inclination to take it by the way you ran out on us." I glare at him for that, but it's the truth.

"I feel like a fucking idiot right now."

"And you should, but I still don't think any less of you for this stunt. People do what they think is necessary to survive. I went along with my parents and became their lap dog, because I thought that they wouldn't love me unless I did. I was the perfect son that they wanted; a world-class duellist and any girl would date me. I hated every minute of it, the only time I was happy was when I duelled. And I guess I was right in some ways, when I did something just for myself and started to date Yugi, they didn't accept it. By this point pretty much have just disowned me... So, what are the terms of agreement? I hope you're a lap dog for a hefty price, because I know you didn't agree for your love of Seto Kaiba." I can relate to that sentiment, I'm an orphan by this point.

"I'm Kaiba's devoted boyfriend, for living expenses and 1K a month. I probably should have argued more, but I was too confused to really think..." My voice trails off.

"I've seen worse deals. You can relax, Seto Kaiba isn't about to harm something that will make him money and make his stocks skyrocket. Hey, I'm not adverse to it; my dividends will be massive this quarter." Yami smiles at his own joke.

"Thanks, I'll see you at school tomorrow. Oh, and my mom has officially disowned me, so don't expect Serenity up here until she's 18." That felt good to get off. I really don't deserve friend like the ones I have. I'm still not ready to face Yugi, as I get up and go back my bubble of money. Where I don't have to face what this agreement actually is, prostitution.

That was a bit more of a bummer then I thought it would be.

Review?


	17. Chapter 17

I miss posted, sorry about that. There about 5 hundred more words to the end.

I unlock the door to the house Seto's gave me, no drug dealers, no pimps, no dope fiends, no nothing. Just pristine little houses on a block that doesn't have traffic, yet it's within walking distance of any major shopping area. Where my food is delivered every Wednesday afternoon and sometimes a new video game unexplainably shows up on my video wall and it's a full wall of games. I drop my keys in the bowl by the door, grab the mail on the floor, and take off my deceased cow hide shoes and fling them to the wall. Then just collapse on the couch. Every emotion that I had in the park I can't seem to reach anymore. I just feel numb.

I'm a fucking coward; I can't even look at the people I hurt. Being starving, broke and cold was better then having Yugi mad at me for spitting in his face. Yes, the shinny things are nice to have, the knowledge that I will have food in my fridge when I get home is great, but at what cost? I hated that I did this, hated that I agreed to this stupid fucking stunt, but I couldn't see myself foisting myself upon them.

But Kaiba isn't going to hurt me; I'm making him too much money. They just have too much going on right now. Yami looked like he hadn't slept in three days, his hands were shaking uncontrollably a few days ago. He says that his parents have disowned him, yet they've done everything to get him back. From bribes, promises, to threats, up until now I never questioned why they did it. I just expected that they did, I guess and not to sound corny, out of love not family status. Because who wouldn't love Yami? Partly the idealist in me wanted that to be true. Not that I wouldn't have my parents showing some interest in me, and not to think of me as some blemish of the family.

I mentally hit myself. I am seriously feeling sorry for myself again? Sometime I shock myself how selfish I can be.

The clock shows 10, I'd better go to bed if I even plan to get eight hours of sleep tonight, in a bed built for a fucking king. But I get up and spot the mail; besides it is sort of strange that I do get mail, the top letter is very different. It's normal sized and weighted, maybe three pages in the envelope and a personal letter to me, Joseph Wheeler typed on the cover. There is no return address. I don't get mail, fan mail or other wise, and organisation couldn't want to get in contact with me, why would they? The envelope was a pale red, not pink, but a washed out red. Strange, I open and start to read the first line, and my stomach drops.

Dear Joseph Wheeler,

Seto Kaiba is much too good for you. He is the most handsome guy on the planet, the way he looks in those pants are to die for, he is smarter then anyone that has ever lived. Rutherford and Newton don't hold a candle to his intelligence. And Gandi is dust in the wind to the Great Seto Kaiba for integrity. He isn't corrupt and he runs his business like it should be run, not that Atem guy. He could have any guy or girl in the world ever and he chose you. The scum of the earth, the filth that makes criminal look clean, I burn ever picture I see of you. I would advise to not get to comfortable in that little house, because Seto Kaiba will be done with you soon enough. But if you could do the world a favour and just break up with him, I really don't want to see you and Seto Kaiba on the cover of another magazine with an article about how you shouldn't be together. Not that I disagree with them, but because they shouldn't exist. He'll see the error of his ways, and you're out of the public eyes. It's a win-win for both.

Now, if you don't because you're so in love with Seto Kaiba's money, his nice things, his nice house, his skill in bed, I will take the majority's option into my own hands.

-Break up with Seto Kaiba.

I really didn't think Seto could even have fans this insane, I smirk at the letter. This girl, probably, has massive issues and really doesn't know how much of an asshole Seto can be. I kind of want her to date him for a week or two, just so she knows what she isn't missed out on. I'll show this Seto Kaiba, I think he needs to know if someone is threatening my life, that isn't him I should say. I cram the letter in my school bag, and get ready for bed. Half of me am looking forward to it, at least too able to at least try to get Yugi friendly with me. I'm not optimistic that he is going to forgive me completely for this.

I wake with a start and slam my alarm button, 6:00 o'clock. My alarm set for seven at least, I rub my eyes and take a shower. Yesterday was hell, yes it was my own damn fault, but it was still hell. I eat breakfast in front of the TV; calmly drink an espresso drink of my own creation.

The six o'clock news is still going on about me, now it is just starting to be funny about how much people give a shit about it. After I just let my mind wonder, about Yugi, Serenity, my bitch of a mother, not really taking into an account what I'm doing, around 7:30, I comb my hair, it refuses to look combed, and I open the front door.

There are at least five different news stations, three different magazines, a few independent one, and one or two creeps wanting to be here for god knows what. They cover the street, block traffic, and are in the trees, they brought cameras and microphones. I knew this would happen eventually, me completely defenceless against reporters I have no talent or experience with. I'm going to make a fool of myself, that one is for sure. I step on the second step and get microphones shoved in my face and question thrown at me, one after another.

"Is it true that you're dating Mr. Kaiba for his money?" "How is Seto Kaiba in bed?" "Is it true that you are friends with Yami Atem, the son of the CEO of Atem INC?" "What do your parents think of this?" "What do your friends think of your relationship? "Is it true that you and Seto Kaiba were not friendly before dating?" "How do you think Kaiba's investor are taking this?" I wanted to run back inside and shut the door, pretend that they weren't here, pretend it was Sunday morning and I didn't have school today and I didn't piss off Yugi. The lights hurt my eyes, the heat radiation made my sweaty, and my heart was beating 200 hundred beats a minute. I officially hate myself.

The microphones move closer and closer, at some points touching my face, heavily made up faces come with them, and massive black boxes that people call cameras are the most intimating.

There is no way out without talking. Don't lie and be forced out my little house, routinely having food, and fuck up what Seto and I have created, a fake relationship that even Yugi was confused existed or not. Or do what every newspaper on this stupid island says I am doing, and not lose the most comfort I've ever had, the most security I had, the chance to live the privileged life that I dreamed of without a care in the world besides what my grade was on the last test. My fists clench, and I want cut my own tongue out when I realize that I can't make this fantasy world end. My mind won't let my tongue do that to my body. I'm complete whore, selfish, scum of the earth for admitting that, but I just can't have this little charade end quite yet, then I would have to wake up and actually face what my life has given me to work with, penniless, weak, and stupid. Either one I choose, Yugi won't forgive for choosing Seto over him.

I take a deep breath, face the cameras; they start the same round of questions over again.

"Is it true that you're dating Mr. Kaiba for his money?" I give the clown like woman a smile, the best I can mange. Whatever I say here will in the news.

"Of course not, the expensive things he buys are nice. But I would love him regardless of his wealth." I say it as genuine as possible. I guess that wasn't expected she drops her microphone; I hope that was a convinced drop.

"How is Seto Kaiba in bed?" Let's see how much I can bullshit this question, embarrasses the hell out of Seto Kaiba, I already don't have any dignity as it is, so I guess what's one more lie going to do. Hopefully, my sister will get some amusement out this stunt.

"Passionate, loving, gentle, and extremely pleasurable." I smile like I'm smiling at a pleasant memory. "And I know will never regret giving everything to him. He was my first kiss to my first time. I know we moved pretty fast, but it just felt natural at that pace. Everything just clicked that way, not that Seto wasn't happy about my decision to let him much earlier then he ever expected, but I, I, guess I just wanted to see him happy."

Whose going to have my head for this comment, Seto will. I'm trying my hardest not to burst out laughing at my entire comment, which is most bullshit and corny thing I've ever had to actually say. I answer the rest with equally as corny answers, and get to school. Even when I hurry, I'm late. I cautiously slide the door of the classroom open, and reveal a Seto Kaiba being forced to answer a math question that 10 year old him could answer.

Not dead. ^^

Review?


	18. Chapter 18

I finally get out from in front of the cameras, the clown-like women that want to know every secret I have ever kept. Our little agreement, why? How did I come to putting my private life on the internet, the T.V., every blog about celebrity gossip? How did I become so desperate for stability, safety that I agreed to have this happen? So many questions race through my head as I run to desperately attempt to get to school on time. But what it boils down to is why?

I yank the handle open to our classroom and instantly regret actually coming to class today. Seto has chalk in hand, and writing the answer to our trivial homework on the board. But the rest of the class, and the teacher, stare at me in a mixture of shock, disgust, puzzlement and hate. The blind hate is mostly the girls that have a crush on him and don't seem to think that I am worthy of his affection. Ok I guess that letter makes a little sense. I see a few faces, Ryou, Duke and Tristan, that don't hold disgust. My hand hasn't even left the handle of the door before I just want to go back to how it was before. I could deal with being hungry, worried about who are going to be in my house at any one day, but not glared at in pure hate at every turn for something that is untrue. Just one face that really wants to see me, that is all I ask right now. Yugi? Yami? Instead I find their chairs empty. Are they really that pissed off at me that they skipped school? They come even when they're sick. The scratching chalk echoes in the silent classroom, the writer seemly unaware of the utter detest in the classroom. Then a phone vibrates and Seto places the chalk in its place. A little cloud of chalk dust surround around the piece of chalk, while Seto takes out his phone. Then he turns slightly and breaks the silence.

"Joey, want to go test a new Kaiba corp product?" His voice is apathetic. I finally look at his face, and it doesn't hold pity, disgust, or even hate, instead I'm met by apathy. Yet right now that is as good as I'm getting and I almost find comfort in it.

"Sure, right now?" I ask, and I glance back at the class. Some of their face has changed to pure confusion. Seto, or anyone for that matter, doesn't just straight leaves class in the middle. He takes three steps, grabs his bag and then slips in his hand into my mine. His hands are soft in mine, and he gives it a light squeeze.

"Does this answer your question?" He asks and with a small tug of the hand we start to walk to the exit. My heart beats a mile a minute because we just walked out on class and proved again that those photos on the internet were not photoshopped. That my supposed boyfriend is Seto Kaiba. Acting that I liked Seto in front of strangers felt so vastly different, like it was a play that he and I were the lead in. His hand in mine right now feels like real life, like I'm actually pretending to be his boyfriend. It is not some thing I act out as a job, that I take off when I come to school and pretend to be normal. Not that I can tell the person beside me any of this, or anyone right now, that I am freaking out. It is fucking real.

"So, what is the new product?" I ask, trying desperately to calm down. My palms are sweating profusely, my heart is racing even harder. I want it to stop, I start to be barely able to breath. He doesn't answer me for a second.

"Fighting dolls is the best way I can think of explain it." I take a breath. I can't tell if he is bullshitting me or not. I don't really know why he even invited me or if he even really has a new product to test. But I should reply positively, but damn this will be hard. My only solace is that break is tomorrow.

"Well you do need to attract the female demographic. But it sounds like fun." What they seem girlie, but the most awesome type of pretty, pretty pink girlie that I can think of. We got to his car and he drops my hand to get his keys on of his pocket. I wipe them on my pants. Gross. If it was anyone else I would feel bad about making them hold my hand. As it is, it's Seto Kaiba. So I don't feel too bad, he's the one that got me into this. I open the door on his cute blue two seater car that was probably more than I make in three years and make myself comfortable in the leather seats. Almost silently the car starts and we're off.

"I guess. Your little sister liked them a bit. Mokuba and her played for hours the last time she was up." I miss her already, this fucking situation took her away. Since no one can hear us.

"These thing really exist, and you're really taking me to see them?" I say in disbelief.

"Would you prefer to go back to school? That can be arranged." There was no insult, which is an upside I guess. Just a sarcastic comment like always, to the point of slightly joking. Why?

"No" I say with as little panic as I can I manage to take out of voice. "I'm fine with seeing your product, imaginary or not." He shifts gears and we both go quiet.

Why did he invite me, anyway? I mean, he has no reason to actually entertain me right now. In fact, he had no reason to ask me or invite me anywhere. We were going to end up spending most of the day together anyway because that is how school ends up, but has no reason to force himself to actually interact with me. We would more then likely have to eat lunch together, but we have to maybe talk to each other as like human beings now. I can't imagine Seto really caring what I have to say, or really caring about me at all. Right now, I am purely his little publicity stunt. He has to keep me alive, and content enough to pretend to like his presences. I think the only luck that I've had in a while is that he is not known for being the most touchy-feely person when dating, so all I have to deal is a few kisses. I don't have to be found in his office making out with him for people to believe us that we are actually dating, or hide in the corner with his down my pants. A shudder goes down my spine at the though of that. I really never want his hand anywhere near that area, or me if I had my way.

The car stops in front of Kaiba corp in a parking spot that has "Parking For Seto Kaiba Only" sign, others will be towed. The closest car to use is at least 5 feet away on both sides. I've never been inside of Kaiba Corp, I'm sort of excited in I hate myself sort of way.

It is an imposing building, the largest in the city if I am not mistaken, that is all glass. The plaza around the building is immaculate, not a once of gum or litter on any of the perfectly laid stone. The bush on the sides of the entrance seem like that they have never had a twig out of the place nor the statures have ever had bird poo on them. Engineers, lawyers, interns, and accountants mill around the plaza with their coffee in hand and talk to each other. They seem happy, especially the engineers. There are few that have their arms flailing as they talk enthusiastically about some thing, one even knocks their coffee onto his khaki pants. I feel slightly out-of-place.

We enter the building and ever more happy engineers are present but there is even more high gloss marble. I can see my face in the marble floor. There is a greeting desk with happy looking secretaries, most of them pretty young. The smell hits my nose before the sight does, a sweet floral smell, and then a huge wall of flowers watered by a tickling waterfall. Take a stream bed and put it on the wall. Alien flowers dot the wall-stream. Flowers with weird cups things and angular petals. They are pretty but damn they are weird, most of them a color of blue or red. A few the of the flower were almost black with streaks of red and blue.

I hear a bark, and a small blond corgi puppy runs to me and starts to nose at my pant leg. I squat down and I give it one scratch behind the ears, a few second of heavy tail waging and then panting as I pet a bit more. I mean I would skip school to pet a corgi puppy, who wouldn't? I smile for the first time today, I guess I can make something happy with just a few twitches of my fingers. That sounded wrong when I think about it again. Anyway...out of the corner of my eye I see Seto Kaiba pick up the leash. Hm, don't want it wrecking havoc in the building?

"Sorry, . I..I..I just lost grip of the leash. I'll take better care next time." A young female voice says, not frightened exactly just a little hesitate. A look up from the adorable face of her puppy and I am met by a pretty young blond-haired women that looks barely older than me.

"I didn't mind, he's really friendly." I interject. She turns to me.

"You must be Joey Wheeler." She has a bit of shock in her voice, what is it? Not the person you thought Kaiba should be with? What else is wrong with me? Mostly how do I respond to that?

"I respond to that name." Her face goes bright red

"Sorry." She picks up the small dog and turns to Seto Kaiba. "Do you want to pet him? He doesn't bit." Then to my amazement he actually gives an adorable fluffy animal a few belly rubs and a ears scratches. Well I don't really know if this concludes that Seto Kaiba is human but I don't think he is a complete robot. So far cyborg level human.

"Bye, and ." She waves goodbye and runs into the elevator.

Then Seto pulls me into a different elevator. She didn't seem frightened or displeased to be forced to talk Seto Kaiba. I felt intimation, but never dislike or fear. My phone vibrates and text message pops up. "Have a lot of fun. ;)". Ass.

When the door open and the last scene I ever expected lays out in front of me.

"Kaiba Corp's R and D lab." Seto Kaiba announces. This is a place that he refuses to let reporters into and his staff has been sworn to secrecy. I see why instantly.

The R and D level takes up over five floors in his building. Well that I could see. And the elevator we just took put us on the top floor. A maze of boldly colored slides, fireman poles, monkey bars, escalators, ladders, and moving staircases, and many 20 some things in white coats milling around the plethora of whites boards, tables, computers. One thing is missing, duel monsters. This is Kaiba Corp, their major product is duel monsters.

I see a baby dragon, in a mailman costume, delivering and receiving mail. So, that's where they are, classy. With the bold colors, it reminded me of a playground not a place people have to work. I knew Seto was an inventor himself, so I assume that he works here at some points. So I have to guess that he had some hand in making this place, but I don't see anything that he would actually want in a work environment. Where are the uncomfortable chairs and the mangers that yell at you whenever you are three seconds late to get some lukewarm coffee?

A time wizard waddles towards us with a memo in hand, he stops in front of Seto and holds out the letter for Seto to take. The entire action is mechanical and stiff, primitive from the monsters that I slept with at Seto's house. While he is reading the letter, I pick up the time wizard and he stops moving. He is just not that well made. I spot weld marks and I can almost feel the metal bend under my finger. Also, there are square black spots on him, and after a closer look, I realize they are sensors. I put him down and he starts to toddle off. I guess the floor has sensors in it too. You know, I would hate to be first edition toys because they suck. Also, whose idea was this overly complicated delivery system, however apt it is for the company? I want to ask Seto, because the pitch for this is laughable: "It won't save you money in the least, and it will probably break down." Says an overly hyper salesman in a bad tie and shirt that is two sizes too big. By processes of elimination, the only person that has the ability and the power to put this system in place is Seto.

"We're going down to the third floor. I'll meet you there." He turns toward the elevator, while I instantly go to the slide. Damn I wanted to see Seto Kaiba slide.

The gravity over takes me and I relax going down the slide, the wind, the slightly out of the control I feel, but ride ends all too soon. While I get my balance back on straight, Seto walks past.

"Seto, I didn't know that you got Mokuba to design your R and D lab? Can't afford an real architect?" I tease.

"It's called inspiration, and since the R and D lab is making for pre-dominantly children, acting like children might help spark creativity. This is the most productive part of my company, so the extra expenses are justified." He says defensively. A women in her early thirds walks up to Seto Kaiba. She has the standard white coat, over traditional Egyptian garb, and gold necklace with an eye on it. She is an utter beauty, copper colored skin, big eyes, curves that could make Mai jealous and, by her place in the company, extremely intelligent. If Seto actually had emotions, they would make a good match, age difference aside. Plus, it would have been just as scandalous if he were dating one of his employees, then if he was dating me. Probably more so if you ask me. So why not? They seem to have chemistry, and they make sense. Two extremely intelligent people, even if I don't want to admit it, both of which enjoy mechanical things and probably won't kill each other if given the chance. A match made in heaven.

"What was so urgent, Ms. Ishtar?" I spot her take a glance at me in my sweaty school uniform and scuffed shoes. What?! At a second glance there is a small mischief in her eyes.

"The new prototype is completed, I thought that you like to know as soon as possible." Her tone is vastly more familiar than the girl in the lobby. A copper skinned man runs over, tall, fit, and just as good-looking as the women next him with a kuriboh under his arm. Is that what I think is? Is that a kuriboh version of Seto Kaiba's Blue Eyes white dragons?

"Sorry, here it is." He rubs something on the stomach and it starts to struggle in the man's hands and squealing.

"Can I hold him?" I interject. His fur looks so soft and fluffy, his eyes are adorable. The man turns towards me and small smirk on his face.

"You must be Seto's boy toy. Seto, you chose pretty well. I mean, the magazine photo don't do him justice. I did not expect someone around a 7 with 9 potential." I know my face is really red right now.

"Excuse my brother and yes." I get handed the kuriboh and I hold as I would hold a hamster. His fur is like a cat's. He peeks up at me with purple eyes, and slightly digs into my hand with his claws. I start to scratch the top of his hand, and his eyes close and he starts to emit a low purring sound.

"This is the first interaction he has ever have?" Seto asks.

"Yes." Marik says.

"Remained me what internal training he has built-in." Seto Kaiba forgetting stuff, what a horrible though!

"Only the simplest of training, just a small 10,000 set with _K_-fold cross-validation." That doesn't sound like simple training. Seto nods.

"By the looks of it that is about enough. We started alpha testing about an hour ago, just a few around the lab and nothing has gone wrong. There has been no kuriboh attacks or anything of that. But nothing can really be conclusive right now, we don't have large enough sample size." The kuriboh squirms in my hand and I smile like an idiot about that.

"I'll get you a more full report by 5 today, but that is what I wanted to show you." and Marik turn and go back to their very important jobs. I am left with a squirming kuriboh in my hand, which I am perfectly happy to take care of. Wait? This isn't what he wanted to show me?

"This isn't what you wanted to show me?"

"Come on." Sigh.

Yes Kaiba corp = Google && Willy Wonka.

Yup, 2 and half years and I finally update.


	19. Chapter 19

He lead me out the main R and D area and down a small hallway and into a door. Inside looks a lot like the game room in Seto's mansion. There are big coaches, a fully stocked pantry and fridge, big TVs with consoles. Basically every teenage boy's dream bed room. A few other people are here just playing a video game, mostly mid-20's guys and a one girls. No one looks up when Seto and I enter.

"You can let him go in here, he isn't going to get lost very easily." Seto says. I let the kuriboh run free on the table. He kneads at it and then lays down like a cat. Now the other people look up and look at each other in discomfort.

"We'll get back to work, . Our code was compiling." One of the guys slightly stutters. He is pretty young looking, at most 26.

"Calm down, dude, and lets finish our game. Our code is compiling and I just can't look at the bug I'm trying to fix right now." Another guy says. That guy is older, about 35. Seto doesn't seem fazed by the banter, and just ignores them. He then unlocks one of the cabinets and takes out a large black case that looks as tough as a nuclear bunker.

He takes a seat on one of the big leather coaches and I sit across from him. He opens the case. A very life like Saggi the Dark Clown and Flame Swordsman lay there still, calmly like they're sleeping. Their clothing perfectly tailored to fit them and the sword looks like real metal. Next to them are a pair of standard square hipster-ish glasses.

Well battle dolls was pretty accurate, it seems. He plucks out the flame swordsman, a pair of glasses and puts them in front me. I don't reach out to touch it, since it isn't mine and I can't afford to replace them. But it takes almost every ounce of my restraint not touch him, feel his hair, clothing and lastly skin. But why a Flame Swordsman? His costume isn't that simple or anything, so why? He puts on the glasses on, and presses on the band near the ear and takes the Saggi the Dark Clown out with all the accessories. He doesn't look too bad with glasses. I think its an improvement in fact.

"Press the ear band, right at the end and put the glasses on." I do as I'm told and a screen puts up in front of me. All it said is "No Signal".

He presses a button under the table and almost immediately three things happen. First a few little boxes pop up in the corners of my glasses' screen, Hp, skill level, attacks, the pretty normal stuff for fighting video games. Second the wooden table between Seto and I now shows a grassland with tiny grasses holographically coming up from the table with an artificial breeze. Lastly the Saggi the Dark Clown starts to get up on his feet. The movement look natural, a little slow at points but perfectly natural. I find myself trying to not show my amazement at the little dolls. I want one.

"The basic idea of controlling them is to just think what you want them to do." That doesn't sound too hard. Get up I think. Instead I get some leg twitches and an arm spasm. Nope. I feel Seto laughing at me for failing at a simple task.

"The more complex idea behind it is that you have to break down almost every movement into it's basic steps. Its not very easy. A simple walk took your sister a few hours to master. It is still in the testing phase, so the product that will be released to the public will have slightly easier controls." Ok, basic movement. Um, how do you get up? The Flame Swordsman is laying on his side, almost in a fetal position. Ok, lets straighten him out first. Move one leg out. Instead of the way I thought it would go the leg when straight up. "It is more like programing then actually moving, but doing the movement helps a lot." He says, showing no impatience at my failure. I hear a few rustles from the chairs on the other side of the room, a few whispers and finally footsteps.

"These are so cool. So when are you recruiting for this project?" The older one asks Seto, before sitting next to him and getting his face right up close to the clown. While the younger one takes a seat next to me and admires from a distance.

"I consider these barely functional yet. These are still a bit of pet project of mine, so not for a while. The dolls are the only part that might be consumer ready yet, if I lower my standards to crunch time levels. There is a lot to be done on the back-end, mostly in the doll's intelligence center. The natural language processing on the dolls is abysmal. We just saw what happens when a new user comes to play. Joey, do you remember the call you gave the doll?"

"Um..I think it was move leg out or something like that. I'm assuming that it wasn't specific enough?" I try again, um, move left leg to the left. The left leg swung left slightly, and since it was still in the air it looked a little funny. I feel my face heat up slightly in frustration, this isn't fun. This is just Seto trying to humiliate me in front his employes. Not that he hasn't humiliated me in front of the entire fucking world already, do I have to be in the same room as the people looking and laughing? I already fucking had that at school, I thought that this would slightly better. But of course not, I forgot Seto really fucking hates me.

"They are trained for Serenity, Mokuba, and my speech patterns and thinking patterns. For example, Saggi lift your left knee and move it out a little. That should be the same command as Saggi lift the left kneee and put it out a little. Both those commands should go to the command to lift the left knee and move it. But sometimes even little differences like that will get very unexpected results. Then we have the issue of slang, mispronouncing and other languages. Want to try?" I think the guy was about to explode from excitement. His face lit up and nodded enthusiastically. Also, part of me is shocked that Seto let someone else touch his toys. Seto takes the glasses off and then Saggi falls in a clump on the table. The guy almost jams the glasses on and looks at the table with a massive smile on his face. Saggi starts to twitch and turn and gets almost no where. Seto pulls up a window and after a few commands, I figure out it is just a log of what commands we gave the dolls.

"I see your point, I don't think people would really pay to play a 3D QWOP." The older guy says, still staring at the table. I turn back to trying to get the flame swordsman to stand, half competing with the older guy to see who get their doll up first.

Both of us fall a lot, and get up and then fall again. I don't feel too bad after I see Kaiba's employee fail just as badly I do. Ever once in a while I glance up at Seto, but to my shock he doesn't seem impatience at me. In fact I would even say content as he scrutinizes the log. I smile a few times as I almost get him standing and then he falls again.

After about the 500th fucking time trying, and feeling like a slight idiot, I get him on his feet. But he teeters on the edge.

"I got it." I have a massive smile on my face and I glance over to Seto.

"You beat Serenity's time by 20 minutes, Mokuba's by 30 and mine by 5. I guess this means that you get to pick where we go for lunch. But I still hold veto power." Was that supposed be playful? Because if it was anyone else it would have been.

"I didn't know that this was a competition, but I'll take it." Ok, I can do competition.

"Damn...I'd better getting back to work. I can't wait until you let the R and D lab in on this. Also, nice competing with you,..uh, Joey Wheeler isn't it?" The guy says as he takes off the glasses.

"uh, ya. Nice meeting you." I quickly glance up while I try to getting him walking. I'm ecstatic as he takes a step and doesn't fall flat on his face. Seto doesn't put the glasses back on shockingly. But I pay no mind to it, I have to learn to walk. I glance over to him a few times, and only see his expression change to a very slightly smile when the Kuriboh starts to rub up against his hand. He does pet it to my vague astonishment. Maybe not a robot, still a cyborg though.

I quickly master walking, getting up and sitting down soon become pretty natural to me. The learning curve is a brick wall, but I have a smile on my face the whole time. Finally after I learned side-stepping, back-stepping, I could jump a little, and do a really shitty jumping-jacks, Seto puts on the glasses again.

"Do you know the Cha Cha Slide? Line dances are pretty useful for training, since they're simple movement but a lot of them in pretty quick time" Seto asks.

"Somewhat." Do I get to see Seto do the cha cha slide? Please lets this be true. Please.

He brings up a music file, and gets off the coach. I follow suit. Yes! I get to see Seto make a fool of himself! Best day ever!

"Play." The file has been slowed down considerably, sounds like a guy in mud but it is the Cha Cha Slide.

We both clap, jump, stomp, back-step our way through the song mostly in tempo. We speed it up and go again, and again, and again until we are at full tempo and jumping like a normal humans.

"Seto, this is better then school. I'm doing very educational things like learning the Cha Cha Slide. A skill that will useful in life." I find myself joking.

"For you, you'll need as many skills as you can get." Seriously? Fucking Seriously? I almost complemented him, ok I kind of did in an off handed way. I was having fun, with him no less. I just stop dancing, put the glasses and I am just too pissed to even think of a clever come back. Instead I simply say "Where's the bathroom?"

"Down the hall, first left."

I will admit if I can make this week better then I think is is going to be I'm going to do it. But that will be fucking impossible if he refuses to cooperate with that. I will do the boyfriendy things in public, but I kind of hoped that there is something there. Anything, I don't care. I want something that isn't an asshole to be there, but I've been proven wrong every fucking time I try to be human to him. I want to punch him in his smug, rich jaw, just to show him how I feel...Instead I just wash my hands in the super clean sinks of Kaiba Corp.

When I get back to the room, our dolls are facing each other and a holographic sand ring is under their feet.

"I said fighting dolls." I guess a small doll representation of him will have to do, I guess.

"Start." I just run at him, not much plan of attack or anything. I get him by the waist and wrestle him to the ground. My instincts from when I was child come back. I know how to throw a punch, wrestle someone to the ground. I remember so vividly how to knock someone out that the Flame Swordsman just moves naturally. I don't have to think, he just does. When my doll's fist finally collides with Seto's doll's face, pure euphoria. This also knocks all his hit points away, so win, win.


	20. Chapter 20

I look him in the eyes with a smirk on my face. I just beat him at his own game and I'm not about to pretend I'm not pleased with myself. The surly expression on Seto Kaiba's face makes my win just a little better.

"So, where do you want to go for lunch?" He says annoyed. "Remember that I can veto, within reason. I should preface that I refuse to go to Burger World." I can imagine Mokuba forcing him to go to Burger World and him swallowing a greasy, mass produced burger with a look on his face like it insulted his company's new product. But my mind goes blank when I try to figure out a place that I would care to go.

"Food, I'm pretty happy as long as food is served. I prefer it to be tasty, but I'm not too picky." He scowls at me while he takes off his glasses and starts to pack up. I do the same.

"Food is the only requirement? Tasty, preferred but not required. Ok, not all that useful. How about type? Personally, I want sushi. Unless you don't consider that food." Raw fish, rice, seaweed, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. It also has the upside of being expensive. If I'm the boyfriend for hire I'd mind as well force him to spend as much as I can on me.

"I categorize that as food, even tasty food."

The Japanese restaurant is what I would expect from a Kaiba, a private room to top it off. There is a traditional Japanese table in the middle, with the entire floor filled with pillows, but the normal rice paper walls have been substituted by glass and steel with curtains. We sit down, order, and get our food. I eat a roll; let the fatty fish melt in my mouth. There is no one around, we don't have to pretend that we like each other or even stand each other. I'm the first to speak.

"I don't know how much you care about why I was late to school, but it wasn't because my alarm was retarded. The tabloids stopped me and I kept to what I know of the story. That I have fallen for you not because of your money, but because of your fabulous personality." Heavy sarcasm on the personality part. "I did tell the truth about why I was in the hospital. I couldn't see a reason why not to. In a strange way, the real story is shockingly romantic. I know my nurse had already made a romance. They were pretty simple questions. And I correct them about that Mai isn't heart broken, why hasn't someone correct them yet?"

"It created better news. But basically you lied through you're teeth and I'll figure out tomorrow if anyone believed you." He smirks, "To think, I thought that morals would have gotten the better of you. Then you would have just tell them you can't stand me and it was a publicity stunt."

I can't look him in eyes because what he just said should have been true. I don't agree with what I'm doing right now on many fronts. I'm being paid to pretend to sleep with this asshole; and pretend to like him. For what? Comfort, and security. Security against bodily harm, and comfort that I will be able to eat. But then again, what choice did I really have anyway? At the time I couldn't go back to my father's apartment and my mother doesn't even think of me as her son. Yugi doesn't have room for an injured me, or me in general. That is assuming that he will speak to me. So there is really no point in beating myself up over this, necessity will always take precedence over some abstract idea of morality, ethics and privacy. I would prefer to work a normal job. But my life didn't really give me that choice now did it? I was completely broke, and I couldn't have gotten the money for an apartment in a matter of a day. But, he doesn't need to rub it in. Instead of physically attacking him, mostly because it wouldn't end well for me, I steal the roll he is going to eat. I glance over. He doesn't say anything; in fact all he does is just put his chopsticks down.

He stares at the plate on the table; if ice started to form I wouldn't be too shocked. His fingers rap on the table impatiently, and he hasn't picked up his chopstick in about three minutes.

"What was I supposed to do, tell the truth?!" I already know I'm a disappointment; I don't need another person looking at like I am one. I didn't even know that I had anything to disappoint Seto with; I thought he thought less me then my own mother does.

"You're not the only thing in my life that annoys me. Don't flatter yourself." He says through his teeth. "Good, I have something aspire to." My fists clench, I know my predicament is my damn fault. Why can't I punch him again? I'll even take doll form.

"Joey" I just cut him off there.

"I didn't know I was on a first name basis with you." There is bitterness in my voice that shocks me.

"Break is tomorrow." He seems to unfazed by my absolute rudeness.

"Meaning? That I'll spend the vast majority of it at Yugi's house."

"You are pretending to be my boyfriend, or do I need remind you?" The implication being that I'll be spending more then five minutes with him. Yay, why can't I get that crazy chick to take my place?

"What does my job description entail?" He searches in his coat and takes out a card and a piece of paper.

"You'll be staying at my mansion for the duration. And keep thursday and wednesday morning free. Also, you have free use of my driver, as much you'll be competing with Mokuba. " I audibly groan, but take the card and piece of paper.

"I will barely be home, no need to entertain me." Well, I guess there are a few upsides, but they don't even come close to the downsides. Mostly I don't get it, why me? True I'm probably the easiest target ever for him, but he hates me just as much I hate him. Not that I give a fuck about his reasons to make his life worse. It's really none of my business.

"I need to go back to Kaiba Corp this afternoon to finish up a budgeting dispute between my board. You don't seem too inclined to go back to school, correct me if I'm wrong." He says while texting.

"You seem to know me so well. We must be made for each other." I say sarcastically.

"Which means that you're testing another project, virtual reality. Also, I told Mokuba that I would be home for dinner tonight at 6." That actually sounds like fun.

"Good, I have a reprieve planned." There is a pause while Seto Kaiba eats a roll.

"Unrelated to what I'm going to be doing today." I reach for my wallet and take out the redish letter that was sent to me.

"I got this in the mail yesterday. I didn't know you have crazed fans, not that I understand the sentiment." His eyebrow come together and he rips the letter from my hand. It only takes him 30 seconds to read it, before he looks up from it.

"So, can I leak it?" I ask. He just glares at me for a second.

"You're my knight in shining armor remember?" I take the letter back and fold it back up.

"Tomorrow, leak it then." There is something in his eyes, something that I can't tell if I like or not. Its not hate, disgust, or even shock how stupid I am, instead there is a, if I can even use this word with Seto Kaiba, dark playfulness.

The check comes, he pays the bill, and we leave the restaurant. As we leave, he grabs my hand, but I can't pull away. What if his grasp was truly showing his affection towards me? What if I were dating him out of romance? What if what I said was completely true?

* * *

Review?


	21. Chapter 21

What if I said today was true? Whatever bullshit I told the press, yes that would lovely, to actually live the fantasy that we have created. For Seto to have given me a place stay with no intention besides my safety. I glance over at Seto turning the car on. But it's a stupid question to ask because it would never happen. Seto, selfless, don't make me laugh. Me attracted to him? I think my father would stop drinking before that happen or maybe my mother wouldn't consider me a complete failure of a son.

Two people, one a rich businessman in charge of a massive gaming company, the other a working class teenager that got into a rich high school. The working class teenage caught the eye of the businessman, but they could never actually have the relationship. They fight whenever they see each other. Everyone thinks they hate each other. But when the working class teenager needs help the most, it comes from the most unexpected source. The businessman that he thought hated his guts. The businessman that is always there to protect him, always there to give him a hand. It's a sweet story, romantic and girly. In the god awful universe that I have feelings for him, Seto and I shouldn't even know each other. It was insurmountable bad luck that we ever met, Yugi meet his soul mate, I met my worse enemy.

That faithful tournament, the title "King of Games" was up for grabs and a million dollars, sponsored by "Industrial Illusions". Duel Monsters was just getting big, since duelling stadiums had only come out about three months go. Yugi was invited because he proven himself at regional tournaments, but he was not the favourite. Seto Kaiba was, he had created and patented holographic technology by the time he was 12, and only a year later figure out how to make it economical to create in large scale. So I guess I can see why.

Even going back farther, I still remember the day I met Yugi, we were five at the time. He was playing duel monsters in the park on a nice summer day with Grandpa.

"What are you playing? Can I join?" Back then I seemed to have manners in some way. Grandpa looked over at Yugi, figuring out if he wanted let me into the game. Yugi smiled, and replied, "We're playing Duel Monsters. It's a card game." He looked up at his grandpa, "Did you bring the extra deck?" I took a seat on the grass next to him, and got handed a deck of cards. Grandpa took his off the board, and Yugi reset the game. "Put the deck here and take six cards. Oh, I'm Yugi Moto." I did what I was told. "Joey Wheeler, what do the colours mean?" Yugi was better then me, but I still had fun and he never made fun of me for losing to him. He just smiled, and asked to play again. That may seem simple, but when it was time for dinner, he begged me for my number and to come over soon. I, of course, complied with that request for five days straight, he was as nice and kind as he is now. In that respect, he hasn't changed much. Until I call one day, and Grandpa answered. "Turtle Game Shop." "Joey, Is Yugi there?" There was a pause. "No, he had to go back home with his parents. He is a forgetful kid, I'm sorry. I'll tell him to call you when he's in town again. He did greatly enjoy you coming over." When Grandpa said that line, I didn't think about much. I enjoyed my time too. Grandpa kept his promise, and for four years, whenever Yugi was in town we would hang out. In those days, I thought he was a little shy but a perfectly nice kid. He never talked about his life back home. Not that did either, but I doubted he was in the same situation.

One day, the phone rings. "Wheeler Residents." "Joey, can you come over?" There is something in his voice that doesn't sound right, "Get ready to lose then." I grab the deck that Grandpa lent me, and run as fast as my 9 year old legs can carry me to the Turtle Game Shop. One look at Yugi, I knew that card games were not going to happen. He ran and hugged me, like he always does, this hug was tighter and wasn't some greeting that meant nothing.

"I'm moving in with Grandpa." I smile, but something is amiss in his voice. I was actually really happy at the news, he was, and is, a friend that I could count on to be there.

"Why? I mean, you have parents and stuff, why would you move in with your grandfather?" I was a very eloquent child, just misspeaking and ripping Yugi's heart out. The norm. Tears started to form in his eyes, I quickly continue

"I didn't mean that, I'm happy that you came to live with your grandpa. But it just seems sudden."

"Really?" I nod.

"I gave up, everyone made fun of me for playing duel monsters. Even when I gave it up, I was always known as that short kid who played card games. People used to..." I didn't here what his classmate did to him that day, he just collapsed into a ball of tears after that, and I just didn't have the heart to ask him to tell any more. When I got the story in bits and pieces, people used to rip his cards up, steal puzzle pieces, pretend to be his friend just to make fun of him behind his back. And he never told his parents up until that three days before that. I really don't understand why that happened, when I introduced Yugi to Tristan and Ryou, and he met Tea because she lived down the street from him, everyone became fast friends. Not to mention his house was by far the most fun to hang out in, it is a game shop and it always had the best snacks. Also, as much as I've never told him this, a place to hide when things got a little rough at home. Grandpa was almost always happy to have me, he only told me not eat all the cookies in one sitting. We went to the same elementary and middle school. But two 'tragedies' struck almost the same day, my parents announced their divorce and that Serenity was going to live with my mother. And then, Yugi got a call that his parents died in a horrific car crash caused by a drunk driver. I don't think either of us would be sane today without each other, we knew that the other wouldn't judge, and they would be there, in whatever capacity the other could be. No matter the time of day, or reason. So, when Grandpa couldn't, or wouldn't, go to the first tournament using duelling stadiums, I got the extra ticket. It was in Domino city, no big deal.

When I first walked into the green room, I looked out of place. My ripped jeans and t-shirt didn't baud well with the suits and costumes of the duelists, but I made it straight for the food table without much of a second thought about it. While Yugi went over to talk to some random official. Come on, there was mini cheesecakes and mini cheese sandwiches displayed on a fantasy plate. Who wouldn't go to food table? The entire affair was just screaming pretension, but 13 year old me didn't care about that, I was there for card games and the free food. I ignored the tongs by the mini cheesecakes and stuffed one in to my mouth, and then I heard Seto's delightful voice in my ear.

"Who let the dog in?" I turned to face him, swallowing the creamy cake in one bite; he's obviously pointing at me with his trademark smirk. A kid my age in a ridiculous purple coat, a mullet cut and standing next a bodyguard and thinking he superior to me. Not in my world. Who cares if it is Seto Kaiba?

"I can smell the exploitation from here", his smirk faltered, I still don't think he expected me to rebuttal quite so bluntly. I looked like who I was, a kid that was there because his friend was a duelist, not that he was. Even I will admit, that I don't look intimidating in the least, the only thing going for me is that I am over average in height. My fists were clenched, something about him made me pissed off. His superiority complex, the fact that he underestimated me, or is it the fact he doesn't look good in purple. I still can't tell, white is much better.

"Joey, Kaiba. Stop it, it's really unnecessary." Yugi pipes up. That's Yugi, he never wants violent between people, monsters, perfectly fine.

"Fine I won't punch his face in, but I'm doing you a favour. He deserves it. Please promise me that you'll smear the floor with him" I turned away "But dude I never expected Seto Kaiba to be that much of an asshole".

Yami came over, a small smirk on his face; I didn't know who he was at this point. To me he was just a random duellist that was not as good as Yugi, not the son of the CEO of a massive gaming company that Kaiba corps would one day over take in market percentage.

"I never expected someone to insult Seto quite so, how should I put this, candidly. I can count on my left hand how many people speak to him like that. One, his little brother." I know I was looking at him like he had three heads, Yugi was trying desperately not to blush like mad. "Sorry, Yami Atem, You're Yugi Moto and You're, besides a friend of Moto's."

"Joey Wheeler, you don't need to be so formal, it's sort of weird." I got a smile out him.

"Fair enough. But truthfully, if you weren't Yugi's friend, he wouldn't have been as kind. Yes, you heard correctly, kind. I've known the guy since we were 10."

"He really must be a complete asshole to everyone then, didn't think those people existed. I know, naive of me." I think Seto was listening to me insult the shit out him to Yami that day, and I wonder why he hates me. Oh wait, the last part was a joke.

"I think I might have to shower more often from now on, I don't want to smell." Yugi cheeped in "I doubt it, And Atem Corp's products are made in Japan." His face was a deep red at this point; a 13-year-old crush on Yugi is still the most adorable thing yet. Especially when directed at Yami, not you're average crush now is it. First it's gay, and when I was 13 that wasn't really option on the spectrum and second, it's Yami Atem. He met my eye and begged me to leave them alone, I wasn't about to stop him from embarrassing himself. He knew the pay off, I get to tease him for a week about it. I was such a great friend back then.

"My last mini cheesecake was interrupted by, as I will refer to him as of now, the asshole or bastard. I can't tell you which is more appropriate. Stay tuned." I turn on my heels to the table, and guess who is leaning against the table, the asshole. Anyway, he was blocking my way to the mini cheesecakes.

"Move it asshole, you're not getting an apology out of me, just forget about it." His smirk was back, and punch worthy as ever.

"I guess that is expected out of a mutt, so I can't really complain." The glint in his eyes that day I have yet to see again, like making fun of me was the most fun thing since I don't know, duel monsters. The deep ocean blue glint just lit up his eyes, even when duelling; his eyes never look like that. I didn't know insulting a commoner was that much fun, but I guess whatever floats his boat.

Both of us spent the rest of the day blatantly insulting each other, more often to their face then to anyone else. I was even the first person to congratulate him on his defeat to Yugi. We were, and still are, extremely petty, it doesn't matter what the other does wrong, and it's worth an insult. So, when I realized that I got in the same school, for some ungodly reason, I just went up to him, half expecting him to have forgotten the commoner that wouldn't shut up three years ago.

"I see you forgot your body guard at home or couldn't the company afford the medical bills?" His smirk didn't falter this time, instead "A toy poodle doesn't make a good attack dog, go run along back to your owner. He seems to have forgotten the collar." Ever since, we have just had a surly hate for each other. Every teacher has put us next to each other. Yes, I got the luck of the draw of always having him in my classes. I swear, I think it's rigged or something.

Reviews? =)

I should be updating more often now. Sorry. The next few chapters are extremely important for establishing a few key plot points and I wanted to know if I established them right, so I wrote almost to the end. In my defence, I figured out that I hadn't!


	22. Chapter 22

Seto Kaiba parks in the same spot as before and he pulls me into a private elevator. Most of it is made of glass and facing the outside. He even has to slide a card to get it to run, very spy like. I take a breath and I guess I'd better start mission impossible; get Seto Kaiba to act human toward me.

"So what will I be doing today? Tell me more about this project." I ask. Lets let put the conversation in his court. Let's see if he'll answer an open ended question without an insult or snide remark. I have to figure out how much I've going to hate this week.

"Whatever you really want within some constraints. I got a report yesterday that said they have a simple task that they want me to look at. I've found that they just want someone to play it that doesn't know the code as well as they do. You're basically a body that doesn't know anything." I can't really say there was a snide remark or insult anywhere in there. A straight forward reply to my open-ended question, so far so good.

"What are the constraints?" He flips his phone in his hand once before answering, and glances at the ever smaller bushes outside.

"The constraints are a pixel. In layman's terms, the pixel is larger then I would like. If you are to create something, lets say, a blue eyes white dragon. Even for me it would impossible without some kind of seed. In general, the human mind doesn't not have that kind of detailed memory. Even at the resolution they are working at right now, anything as complicated as a potted plant will look weird to your eyes." I think that was might be a gathering his thought and figuring a way to explain it to a layman, not an annoyed, phone flip. He continues without prompting.

"I think the best way I can explain it is just think of bad 3d animation or a badly done 3d video game, or just think of the first edition duel disk graphics." Self deprecating analogies, I can deal those.

"That actually makes perfect sense. The last analogy made the most sense." I give him a small smile.

"That was the most accurate since some code and a few parts are from the first edition duel disks." He slides to unlock his phone and then turns it off. The evaluator door opens and an older balding short guy in a very well tailored and crisp suit gets in and impatiently presses the button for the same floor Seto Kaiba pressed. The door closes and he stands facing us on the other side of the elevator. He doesn't seem to even recognize that I'm here, just makes a mental note of Seto Kaiba. I have to slight urge to laugh at the scene. Seto Kaiba looks a little ridiculous in a school uniform next to this guy that is obviously part of the business-markety part of the company.

" , I hope to get this issue sorted out today. It should have been sorted out last week." He says it as if it was Seto Kaiba's fault that he couldn't go golfing or something.

"Also, the boyfriend of your's, whats his name, Jose Wheller needs to go. I liked the hot blonde better, at least she was actually arm candy. Or he is that good of a lay?" He says that in an off-handed way that makes me think that he think it should be obvious. Also does he not realize that I'm Jose Wheller? I'm offended that my name is not worth remembering, not that he kind of hates me. That's the point, I'm not worth Seto Kaiba.

"Why is my sex life relevant?" Seto responses in a tone that can only described as a liquid nitrogen level cold. His hand tightens around his phone. I am genuinely shocked at Seto Kaiba's response.

"If it wasn't plastered all over the news, it wouldn't be. It's an embarrassment to the Kaiba name that you would even look twice at street punk like that. To be honest, I wouldn't care if you kept him on the side, but the blond girl fits your image better." Wait, wait one fucking second. His board doesn't know about his stunt, well, our stunt?

"I'm not a teen pop star and my boyfriend" That sounds weird coming out of Seto Kaiba's mouth. "fits my image fine. He's a great duelist, and the fact he's an attractive blonde doesn't hurt. Plus there is nothing that I can do any worse for the Kaiba name." Did Seto Kaiba just defend me? I guess that is kind of his role in all this, but he just defended me. And he sounded legit like Count of Monte Cristo revenge legit. Also, how does he know that I'm any good as a duelist? Then the duel we had during our first date comes back, and the look his eyes then still frightens me slightly. They were intense. The guy's eyebrow ruffle a little, not the expected response?

"What is so special about him? You're paying his fucking living expenses, and actually defending him? What is so god damn fucking special about this guy?" His voice raises as he goes on and spits starts to fly. "You used to insult your girlfriends right in front them, you never gave one fuck about their feelings since you knew that they couldn't break up with you." His hands are start to gesture. "Their daddies wouldn't let them. This guy is in the same fucking boat. At least those girls could actually give you something. You used to have 15 year old girls weeping in your office. What does he give you? It can't be anything that any girl won't give you in a heart beat." There is foam around this guy's mouth by the end of this little speech and his nostrils flare, and his fists clench. He looks a little silly.

Wow, I don't quite know how to parse that. First, Seto Kaiba was a horrible boyfriend. Ok, that isn't shocking, did I really expect anything else from him? He never seemed the touchy-feely romantic type for the most part. I never heard anything from Mai, but I really can't imagine Mai really caring about Seto Kaiba actually thought her. Plus, I don't really how much of a relationship they really had. From the sound of it, it sounded more like a connivence then a relationship. Second, he is treating me better then any of other girlfriend? I mean, compared to them, I've been treated like a human or even royalty. Third of all, Seto Kaiba used to be used as a barter chip it seems. There are so many things wrong with this.

"He can me give me something not any 15 year old girl can, a body I'm actually attracted to. Plus he wasn't just given to me because my publicist thought that I needed rich arm candy, or because I wanted something from their fathers and their little princesses wanted to date the great Seto Kaiba." It is in the same vein, Seto Kaiba chose me because I was easy to use.

"Well congratulation, you took agency. Do you want a sticker up on your name slot because you went pee pee by yourself and washed your hands or flip your card to green because you decided who you want to stick your dick into this week?" What is this guy's deal? Does he really care that much about the Kaiba name or some bullshit like that? I don't really think of the Kaiba name as anything pleasant but the fact that he's dating guy wouldn't really worsen that. I would just feel sorry for that guy for having to deal with Seto Kaiba on a normal day. The evaluator bings and opens on the top floor of the Kaiba Corp building. We step out of the elevator onto the marble floor with a garden on either side of walkway and a fountain with five old guys sitting and standing in a circle talking with coffee cups in hand. The top floor is almost dizzyingly high up in the air and just as grand as the main lobby. I would consider myself in a garden not an office building. A few more vastly younger, just graduated college age, people sitting with tablets and thermos of coffee.

The old guys turn and face Seto Kaiba.

"I am adding another element to the agenda." He demands icily. If this is him really angry, then I have never seen him angry. His eyebrow ruffle, his knuckles whiten, his nostrils flare. His board looks a little frightened by a very pissed off Seto Kaiba. Our foot steps echo in the now very silent lobby.

"I move to remove Mr. Crump for insubordination and poor demonstrated work." A rash, emotional Seto Kaiba, what a new person to meet. The entire board almost drops their coffee.

" , who would take his place? But added." Stammers one the board members, a tallish thin guy with dyed brown hair. A women types that on her tablet. Mr. Crump looks a little shocked, to put it lightly.

" , Seto, Set, you can't sack me. I helped raise you." I don't know if that was the best way of going about that, not to flatter myself but maybe apologizing? I don't know, compared Mr. Crump, he seems fond of me. In the same way I'm fond of the moldy bread I used to eat for breakfast.

"Your father wouldn't want that." I feel a chill in the room when is done and then I fully take in Seto Kaiba. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, goosebumps cover my body, his look frightens me to the bone. There is uncontrollable fury and murderous spark in his eyes with an intensity I've never seen. Part of me wants to run to the elevator and forget I ever saw that.

"I move to post-p-p-pone this meeting unt-t-t-til thursday because Seto Kaiba is not emotionally sound." Mr. Crump stammers, madly looking around for some aura of approval. That is really a horrible idea, even I know that. When that didn't seem to be working.

"I've already scheduled a date for that day, and I don't want to disappoint." There is a sick happiness at the sight of in his voice. It sends another chill down my spine. I've going to be spending more of the week in a sound proof house with this person!

"I will expose you." He says in almost hysterics, sweat dripping down his fat face. At last an expression I know, a smirk comes on Seto Kaiba face. Yes, come on be sarcastic to your board, not straight up murderous. Please.

"For what? I've never done anything illegal. I'd like to add threatening to the list as well. Shall we finally get this meeting underway? I'll be there is a second." stares for a few before scurrying of in the meeting room behind everyone else. Seto Kaiba turns to me. His eyes still hold a murderous spark and uncontrollable rage, and I want to get away from him as soon as possible.

"Down that hallway and down a flight of stairs will get you to where you need to go. I'll text you when I'm done." I grasp around all my pocket and sinking feeling comes over me.

"I-I-I forgot my phone at Yugi's house." Please don't blow up at me, Please. I'm the center of your issue, but please don't hit me. My legs are jello as I wait for his response. The elevator is right behind me, but it would horrible escape plan. It wouldn't open fast enough. Down the hall I assume the stairs are there, that would be my best bet. Unfortunately, he has his school bag with our history textbook it in. My breathing starts to quicken and I make sure my arms are free to protect my face.

"I'll send my assistant when I'm done then, but you should find your phone." He says apathetically normal. He goes to his meeting.

* * *

So was Mr. Crump a big enough dick/condescending enough?


	23. Chapter 23

I find the executive bathroom, lock the door and just collapse on the spotless dark marble floor with my back to the door. The room has a small plant imbedded into the floor in the corner with a small blue flower trying its hardest to bloom. A bathroom, what a strange place to put a plant.

My lung constrict, and my heart pounds. I prefer robot Seto Kaiba. One that makes sarcastic comments at my minor shortcomings, I want him back. Not the person I just met. A person that I believe would kill to meet his goals. I push the hair out of my face and find that I'm shaking. I just watch my hand for a second. What did I get myself into? What the flying fuck did I get myself into? I want food and a bed to sleep in, I don't ask for much. I didn't sign up for this, I'm not ready for this. Whatever this is.

The door handle jiggles, stirring me from my almost full out panic attack. I take a deep breath before responding, my voice still a bit of a quiver to it. "One second, sorry." I flush the toilet and wash my hands. I take another breath before facing whoever it is on the other side of the door. Right now, pretending to like Seto Kaiba sounds like an insurmountable task. I just want safety, is it really this hard for everyone else?

I grab the handle and yank it open. It's just one of the assistants probably going to the bathroom after a few too many shots of espresso. I give her a nod, a hurry along to virtual reality.

I run down a flight of blue linoleum covered stairs. The heart barely in the relm of normal. I have no idea what to think about that exchange. Unfortunately that makes it sounds pleasant. The small hall I emerge to isn't quite as splendid as the one above it. There is no plants in sight, no dark marble polished to a mirrory finish, instead I walk into a child's house. A very technology minded, geeky, genius 10 year old's house to be perfectly precise. The walls plastered with posters of Star Trek, Star Wars, a few Doctor Who on the wall. What isn't covered by posters is covered with writing, math formula, diagrams, and drawings of television show characters. Duel monster cards litter the hardwood floors. Chair wheels scrape on the floor much too fast for normal use, and its getting louder. A second goes by before I see the source, a bearded guy riding an office chair down the hall. He sticks out his leg and attempts to slow only side down so that he turn towards me. Instead the chair topples and he falls flat on his face. I run towards him.

"Are you ok?" I ask as he starts to get up. He is in the same uniform as down stairs, a white lab coat and khakis.

"Yes, besides it didn't work. Nothing broken, not bleeding." He is on his feet and dusting off his pants. He looks disgruntled at the turn of events. When he gets to his full height, I realize just intimating he is. A mop and full beard of brown hair, big barrel chest and standing somewhere near 6' 4''. I want to give him flannel, blue jeans and an axe. He finally looks directly at me, and stops glaring at the office chair. He does a once over with his eyes. A few hairs on his face move and then a massive friendly smile lights up his face.

"You're the kid we're baby sitting today, better known as Seto Kaiba's beau." His voice booms, but it's happy, friendly as it is loud. "I'm the senior manger of the virtual reality project. Dr. Smith." He holds his dinner plate sized hands out for me to shake. I firmly grasp it, and almost get my hand crushed. I smile back slightly awkwardly.

"What exactly will I be doing?" I ask. I can't imagine I will be much use to these people. I know nothing about this tech. But they'll humor Seto Kaiba because he's their boss and they get to goof off. He starts to walk and I keep pace.

"Mostly what you want. We have some pre-made environments that you'll start on, mostly to get the feel of the controls. How to walk, talk, jump, write, the basics. Then a few that you need to create something out of your mind, sounds science fiction doesn't it." I nod.

He has as much enthusiasm for this project as Seto Kaiba has fiery hate for Mr. Crump. Partly it is just entertaining to watch him talk about it. His eyes light up, his hands start to gesture wildly, his voice rises half an octave. Mostly it's just nice to get away from Kaiba right now. I really haven't started to process what happened upstairs, no where near that stage. Finally we enter a room.

The first thing I notice is that it is arctic in the room. Brr. Metal shelves of computers with waves of green cords plugged into every socket line the walls. Those cords bound up into groups with black zip ties. Blue LED lights line every vertical bar on the shelves. A small sloshing comes from the computers. Papers are strewn on the floor, garbage overflowing with bad ideas, old dirty coffee cups on the desk, and lastly a machine that looks alien to me in the middle of the room connected to the computers in the corner with a bundle of cords. The computer has a women manning it. Yellow hair, barely older then I am, and she is looking at me intently. The basic shape is a bed enclosed in glass with large screens and small laser-looking things around the head area. It looks more like someone's garage then a room inside one of the richest companies in the world.

"Wow." slips out. The guy smiles again.

"Hop on, lets test this on you. You'll figure out who your NPC is pretty quickly. she'll explain everything." He says. Finally the women by the computer speaks. "Joey Wheeler, I assume. I can't believe we're on baby sitting duty." That's Seto Kaiba's job to insult me, not her job. She sighs, and presses a button on the computer and then the dome in the center opens.

"Dr. Hawkins, don't be rude to your boss's boyfriend. Plus, I've been meaning to ask a few of our friends from the Kuriboh Project to test this out." She just glares at him, while I hop onto the bed in the glass dome and get comfortable. Well as comfortable as I can. The bed-thing feels like couches in waiting rooms and not the good kind of couches. The glass closes over me and a holographic band covers my eyes. I can't see anything for a second and then I blink.

I wake up on my back in the middle of a front yard of a normal victorian style house on a block with no other houses or cars. Those type of houses that all professors seem to own. I attempt to get up but my movements are molasses. They just don't respond the way I assume they will. First there is a delay between my wanted movement and the movement happening. Second, the senses also have a delay. I touch the grass, but I don't feel the grass under my hand. So getting up is slow and embarrassing process, and a lot of falling on my face. I take a look around me.

There is cute lacy trim on the roof, a wrap around porch, a hand-made stone patio, a few cute trees, but what really catches my eye are the red roses. There are lines of them up against the house. Every single one of them is different. They look like they were hand designed, not straight coded. To be honest they look a little out of place because they are so realistic. The trim on the house is uniform, every single little curve is exactly like the rest and looks like it is done with Solidworks. Everything around me looks weirdly smooth and shiny. Even my hands look look like a bad 3d animation. Seto Kaiba really wasn't kidding, the graphic are not up to Kaiba corp's standards.

"Hi, I'm the NPC for this environment and will be for your stay." says a very cheery voice from behind me. I turn to face it. There, standing on the rails of porch, is Mokuba Kaiba in a pink frilly dress.

"Mokuba?!" I exclaim. Did his brother approve of this? Did he approve of this? The female-mokuba jumps off the porch and starts to walk towards me.

"Adena actually. But I know who I'm based off of and can understand the confusion. Shall we get started? I see moving isn't a problem." She smiles and holds out a hand. I grab it and get pulled in the house.

Inside is about what I expected, hardwood floors, big entryways, and a few blurry photo in the hall. The couches look soft, bookshelves full of books cover the walls, a few bloomed alien looking flowers in pots, and blue eyes white dragon plush laying on the turkish carpet. I feel like I'm invading someone's house.

"Welcome. This is the landing pad for this environment. This is where you will come out to when you've finished with each level. Now level one." She says as she pushes me into the entryway of the living room.

I end up in a massive version of the room I saw before. The books are buildings, the bookshelves are skyscraper, and I'm tiny. So what the hell am I suppose to do? Normal video games have instructions told to them.

"Get to the other side of the room, and get the dragon scale. No time limit, no health points, and no danger. This level is mostly to you comfortable with the gaming dynamics. Go." Adena's voice says. A second laters a maps shows up in the corner of my eye with a red blinking dot in it and a blue one. Of course the scale is on top of the bookshelves. I just start running across the floor, keeping to the hardwood since the carpet is up to my calves.

I'm winded, but I'm there. The bookshelves will be another story. The spines are too wide to climb since they all seem to be fucking textbooks. So thats a no go. The wood is way too smooth. But there just enough room between the shelf and the last book to shimmy my way up. I put one foot on the wood and my back on the textbook with a massive flower on it and shimmy I do. When I get into the rhythm, my mind wanders. Of course it wanders back to upstairs, and back to Seto Kaiba.

I just want out. I'm exhausted from being jerked around so much, I'm tired of Seto Kaiba, I'm tired of pretending. But I know I can't, I know the alternative. The alternative is hunger, guilt and, mostly importantly, all encompassing fear. When I'm with Seto Kaiba, I used to know I was safe. In the back of my mind I used to know with certainty that Seto Kaiba would never get out of control, lastly he would never harm me more then sarcastic comments. Now I'm not sure, but I prefer this fear. At least the object of my fear is concrete. I climb on the top of the books and go to up to the next shelf. More flower related books and slightly tighter squeeze. Whats with all these books on botany?! They're pretty, but I thought Seto Kaiba was into tech.

He's never been out of control, I've never annoyed him enough for him to get anything more than a little annoyed. In fact, I have no idea how much I'd actually affected him. He's never lost his temper, never raised his voice and the look in his eyes never changed from vaguely annoying amusement, if anything. Not straight up the murderous hate that I saw today, then actually having to defend me when what Mr. Crump said isn't too far from the truth.

Finally I get to the top of the bookshelf and pull myself up. Then I hear the unmistakable monotone of Seto Kaiba. "I'm done with my meetings now. I'll send my assistant" Then I see the last person I want to see right now, white coat and all, sitting against the sage green wall. I thought I was safe from him in here. God damn it.

"Fine, can I win first?" I reply impatiently. Forgetting for a second that I am supposed to like him.

"Be my guest." He disappears with a small pop and I get the dragon scale. Instead of the cute, idealize house I wake up in Kaiba Corp. Back to reality, I guess.

* * *

Hopefully you like it. =)


	24. Chapter 24

I blink a few more times to get used to the real life resolution. Everything is how I left it, besides the extra Kaiba Corp coffee cup on the desk. A minute later, I've said given my full review of the game to the scientist, and Kaiba's assistant and I are walking back up the linoleum stairs in an awkward silence. I finally break it.

"So, how is Seto as a boss?" I feel that is a bit of loaded question, oops.

"Concise, professional, clear, doesn't micromanage. My only complaint would be his criticisms, while true, are a bit harsh at times. But they are very detailed, and specific." Why does that not surprise me? He'd be going through assistant every two weeks if he treated them like he treats me.

We get back upstairs, she goes back to work and I go into Seto's office and quickly shut the door a little too hard. Leather couches, a glass table with a silver KC on it, and a turkish rug made of wool occupy the middle of the middle of the room. While a large mahogany desk, a large screen T.V., and a bookshelf take up the walls, and behind Seto Kaiba is a panoramic view of Domino City. Seto Kaiba shuts his laptop before recognizing my existence. The hair on the back of my neck stands on end at his intense piercing glare of just hate. He starts to walk towards me with nothing in his hands. I just stand there like a statue, my heart beating faster at every step. The tap his shoes make echoing in my ears as he gets closer. He stops in front me, close enough that I can feel his body radiate heat. His lips part.

"Why didn't you say anything?" He asks. I hesitant because I don't have an answer to that question. I just didn't have anything to say, I guess.

"Do you really think I need some thing else to do right now?" Anger creeps into his voice every word. I back up until the door handles digs into my back, my heart pounding in my chest and I just look at the floor. I don't know why I didn't say anything, it didn't seem my place to say anything. I don't think you need anything else to do right now, I really don't. Just please don't hurt me. My hand go wraps around one of the handles of the door.

"No." I eek out, my voice quivers for even that one word. Why am I scared right now? Seto Kaiba has never laid on a hand on me, he has never once touched me unless I accidentally ran into him, he has never even threatened to lay a hand on me, he has never given any reason for me to think he will get violent. So why am I so scared of standing up for myself right now? This isn't my fault, I was mostly forced into this charade. The fact that his board doesn't like me, doesn't like something in his personal life isn't my fault. So why do I fear his hands, his leather boots? I did everything that was asked of me!

"Do you need me to protect you all the time?" I smell his coffee breath, the bitter, burnt, heavy smell of coffee. I swallow so I don't dry heave at his breath. He breaths out again the smell almost suffocating me. I hunch a little get fresh air. No I really couldn't right now. I'm in a ridiculous publicity stunt because yes, I do. I can't fucking do it myself.

"Who could really beat you up that badly, do you really have no recollection of who did that? Or are you just too embarrassed?" I really can't remember anything. My hands tremble on the door handle, please stop. I know I can't do almost anything right, I wouldn't be here if I could. I'm annoyance, I have no use, all I do is consume very limited resources.

Dirty carpeted floors littered with broken glass bottles, stained with dirt, urine, vomit, blood, cum, feces, the walls greyed with smoke. The T.V. showing a black woman getting fucked in a train by five white men all with inhumanly sized penises, her fake moans almost on full blast. Cum almost coats her entire body. The coach has a large blood stain on the cushion to the left. Even over the moaning I can hear "You're fucking useless. Can you really not fucking do anything right?". I look at the source, my father. He holds a beer bottle in his left hand, a cigarette in his right hand. His stringy long dirty blond hair tied back, so I can see his face clearly. It holds contempt, distain, and some disgust. My father lip curls.

"I ask so fucking little of you because I can't expect any thing more. I ask for you not speak to your faggoty little friends, and to not fucking eat everything in the god damn house." He says like he's bored. I slide down my bedroom door in the corner of the room, my newest injuries sting as I slide. I'm in a school uniform.

"Dad, it won't happen again." I beg, my voice is higher pitched. My father whips a beer bottle in my direction, I duck. It shatters right above me, showering me with broken glass and alcohol. Now I smell beer, mold, and smoke. I have to concentrate on breathing. He comes towards me, his steel toe boots create a very loud thud at every step. He stops when he towers over me, cigarette still in his right hand, lit.

"Do you know why I don't want to talk to your faggoty friends?" He asks. He takes a drag of his cigarette and blows the smoke in my face. I cough.

"They put ideas I should haven't in my head." He gestures for me continue.

"Like I can duel, I'm not a waste of space and food." He takes another drag, and blows straight into my nose and mouth. I hold back the cough this time.

"You do learn. You're a waste of space, food and I'm a saint for letting you stay here. Why do I need to tell you this almost everyday?" I lock eyes and say without one quiver in my voice.

"To protect me from disappointment." He smirks.

"Do you need me to protect you all the time?"

"Yes." I say the memorized answer. Slowly the room starts to fade, soon the carpet, the coffee table, and lastly Seto Kaiba come back into view. I'm standing still, my hand grips the handle behind me for dear life, and my brow drips a drop of sweat down the side the of my face. That memory is at least 5 year old. Flashbacks? I've never gotten flashbacks before, what do I have PTSD? I take a deep breath, and actually take in the surroundings. Seto is still in front of my me, but his eye are unfocused.

The only word I can come up to describe to Seto Kaiba at this very second is defeated. His backs is hunched slightly, his hair falls in his face and huge dark bags under his unfocused eyes. He runs his fingers through his hair, seemly attempt to push his hair out of his face, compulsively. On other his hand, his fingers slightly curl and he starts to type without a keyboard. Then I see his hair moving again randomly, but both hands move together. Typing on an imaginary keyboard. What I have no clue.

I know logically that the person in front of me is 17, my age, but his eyes hold the experience of someone much older. I see the merciless, but unwaveringly ethical person that runs his life on atom thin margins of error. That margin just got pulverized, and I just won the place to be the person that sees what happens ...and I have no idea what to do or if I should do anything.

"Kaiba..." I start meekly, but I don't know anything to say or do. I know jack shit about Seto Kaiba and I especially don't know how to comfort him, console him or even fucking talk to him like a normal person. Instead he starts to talk.

"One vote, one fucking vote." I have this feeling that I comprehend the significance of that about the same as I grasp how those dolls work.

"Its been five years, five fucking years of this. Always stopping whatever I propose to the board." He bangs his fist against the door above me and swears under his breath. I wince at the booming sound. He does it 5 more times, each time I wince at the noise. Finally I get the nerve up to order angrily slightly too loud, "Stop! You're going to break something." He stops mid punch, and I look at the side of his hand. A deep red, I wouldn't be shocked if it bruised noticeably.

"Oh" is all he has to say as he says rubbing his hand. His eyes try to burn a hole through the flower in the corner of his office.

"Kaiba..." I still have nothing to say to him. Everything I come up with sounds fake and/or corny or even a lie. "I understand", would be a really huge lie. "I sympathize" would be true, but I would never really say that. "It gets better." I don't know what it really is. "I'm there for you in whatever capacity I can be there for you", to be honest is the truth. I want to punch Seto Kaiba in the face more times then I've lost a duel to Yugi and Yami combined, I want to rip that rich smug smirk off his face, I want to get out of here as soon as possible, but to be completely honest I would help him in a heart beat.

"What do you want?" I didn't come out right. I never said I was smooth.

"Nothing you can give me." His reply is almost normal sounding, apathetic and deadpan. He doesn't even look my way.

"How about in a perfect world?"

"The world isn't perfect." He seems annoyed.

"How about the world that you own a shark?" That is a shot in the dark that he even remembers our date on Saturday. I imagine that he has better things to think about then our little date. But as he processes what I said a small half smile thing starts to form.

"In that world, something to bring him down. I would even say my shark would work." What sharknado all over again? He didn't just shoot me down, winning?

"Murder is never the answer. Sharks with lasers are, you can't be held accountable when they trip into a pit of sharks with lasers." I guess amusing him, or at least attempting to amuse him, is about all I can do.

"True, I don't have time to acquire a british accent though."

"Plus you would need another Q. I think everyone knows that you be the person making the exploding duel monsters cards." I joke. The half smile wipes clean off of his face again.

"I will never make weapons. " He says almost under his breath. Shit! It was a complement, in a way.

"Personally, I think you would look better in a tux and martini glass. A sexy man by your side, if I do say so myself." I really hope he finds my quip amusing, not annoying. Please. I finally get a half smile grimace smirk thing going on in his face, I think that is good.

"Sexy man? I see I'm the progressive 007." There is a pause in our banter, he breaks it.

"Want to go to a movie? Mokuba recommended the newest blockbuster." What? I would assume that he would want to get away from me, away from anyone right now. I mean, he seems like his semi-old self again. His human self again, I mean. I take a few seconds too long, and he seems to sense my hesitance at spending more time with him.

"I can't take my boyfriend out on an impromptu date?" he says it like it is completely natural. Unfortunately that still doesn't explain why he is really do it. For the sake of the week, I'll do what he asks.

The ride down the elevator is a little awkward. He just stares at one spot in the elevator, deep in thought. At points pushing his hair out of his face, putting his hands in pocket and, taking them again. I just don't get him. Saturday, he was a human being to be me. Even this morning he was human. He acted like a human to me, to his employees. I would say we even had fun together. So, why did he do that? He had gotten to have known what he was doing. We walk through the lobby and, back to the car. I lean against the car and, raise an eyebrow. Instead he just takes off his white coat, and leads us out the parking structure onto a mildly busy sidewalk. I guess I now need to pretend to like this asshole, make conversation with him, be the role I'm fucking paid to be.

Before I even start to try to take Seto Kaiba's hand, he crams them in his pockets. A small wave a relief washes over me, I don't need to touch him. Should I even try to make decent conversation? Its not about to work, but I should try. Instead he plays that part, he starts the conversation.

"Kaiba corp actually helped with this movie. I had to contract out quite a few of my artists for it. Some things are obviously done by hologram, and I've seen some of those scenes. I ended up letting Mokuba take my premiere ticket. He said the movie was extremely fun." His voice is apathetic, almost dead in way. Also, I'm pretty sure that was just the first thing that popped into his head.

"Is that bragging or just stating a fact?" I tease attempting to keep the conversation light, non-personal and flowing. Out of the corner of my eye I spot a blue iris and small facial spasm.

"How about we come back to that question after the movie? If you're impressed then its bragging, if you thought it was tacky or gaudy then its just a fact. I think we both know that your opinion is by far the most important to me. Speaking of which, I haven't asked you how you like the virtual reality game?" Seriously? What rom-com did he get that from? Because I think he needs to watch better ones, that line didn't fool anyone. I wouldn't believe him if that ever got out to press. But I have to play along. The better question would be what rom-com am I going to take bullshit from?

"Since you asked so nicely for my opinion, I had fun. You gave an accurate description to me. The graphics were pixelated and lacking in detail most of the time. But it was fun and the controls were vastly easier to use then then the dolls. The NPC was not my taste though, I prefer the older Kaiba." I turn my head to give him a smile, because he can't do anything to me. We're still in public. I'm met with a smirk and, a malious sparkle in his eye that wants pay back. My blood runs cold, shit. I want to resined those lines.

"If thats your only complaint, then I think Dr. Smith needs a rise. Or are you actually trying to spare my feelings?" How about that hurting him is the last thing I want to do right now. I saw what happened and I would much rather a be solider in D-day then deal with that again.

"Maybe, but lets just say that I was. You had a hard day at work, and I'm not about worry you that I had a bad time today."

We get to the movie theater, and he pays for our tickets with a teenage girl attendant. Just like at the aquarium, I'm reminded that Seto Kaiba is deemed attractive by females. A spot a few eyes look him over as he pays. I choose seats in the middle of the theater, and let my body relax into the big cushy lay-z-boy chair that can easily fit two people. Where the arm rest can be lifted and two seats can become a coach. If I were to really going to play my part perfectly, I would lift the armrest and scoot over about 6 inches. Seto Kaiba, if he played his part well, would put his arm me and I would put my head on the soft bit right below his armpit. Or at least that is what I've seen Yugi and Yami do pretty much every time we go see the latest horrible action movie. I mean, if I really wanted to go above and beyond in the devoted boyfriend role I could even kiss Seto Kaiba. Instead I am going to do none of those things because that sounds about as fun as trying to read code in language I don't know without documentation. Also Seto Kaiba looks just as enthused as I am at the prospect. He's leaning away from me with his chin on knuckles resting on the armrest staring at the stupid trivia rolling on the screen.

Some of the fear of that flash back has waned and it just left confusion in it's place. Yami said it on sunday, Seto Kaiba isn't about to harm something that will make him money. The flashback didn't hurt all over again, just solidified a lot my preexisting fears. He owns me, and I hate being this vulnerable. I can't tell anyone about this, not Yugi, not Yami, not anyone. I'm trapped. But I still don't get it. I just don't get his motivation behind the verbal attack. While we have never been friends, and still aren't, most of our insults didn't hurt. For the most part, our insults, quips and comments were nothing more than banter. I know that he was, and probability still is, extremely frustrated at his board. He seems to hate Mr. What-Ever more then he ever hated me. The way Seto Kaiba looked at him was murderous, not light amusement at my expense that I see whenever I can't come up with a response to one of his sarcastic comments. Maybe he felt powerless and had to exert power of someone or something. So, I'm just happen to that person all over again. That person that can't say no. I'm powerless to protect myself, and I absolutely fucking hate it.

The movie soon starts, and I temporarily get lost in big explosions and fast cars. Of course, neither of us tried to play our part. He didn't reach over and flip up the armrest and then pull me towards him. I'm grateful for that.

When I'm buckling myself in to his car and getting myself comfortable, I say "The movie was fun, and I think the holograms added to it. For example, it enhanced the already cartoonish nature of the movie. " Come on act like a human to me, I really don't ask for much. He pulls out of the parking spot before answering. "Hm. It held up to the critics reviews." I guess, I'll have to take it.

His father came back, I bet you missed him!


	25. Chapter 25

The car stops in front of Set Kaiba's mansion. I get out of the car, and then look up at my prison for the next week. There are no bars on the windows, or guards, only well manicured lawn and perfectly trimmed bushes in sight. I see no sign of incarceration, because the prison is only mental, a desire for safety. Which even now is only a desire, my security is as true as my relationship with Seto Kaiba.

His butler comes out to go park the car, and then Mokuba comes out a second later and hugs Seto. Seto smiles, ruffles his little brother's hair and I walk past as the scene plays out. It's in own little bubble. The smile on Seto's face is one of ease; one that is there so natural that the person it belongs to barely notices that it happened. It's full of brotherly devotion, love and protection bordering on that of a parent. Such a different person then I met in his office.

"How was school?" Mokuba answer with enthusiasm that is unnatural to the question, a conversation piece that parents use to figure out if their kids are doing drugs.

"Great, I got a 99 on my math test because of a negative sign and, 94 on my English paper. English never was my strong point. And is Joey staying the night?"

"He's staying until launch. I can't have him disgust my guests that badly." Mokuba's smile falters for a second.

"I get a videogame partner for a week, and good thing it's break." Seto takes off his coat, and his briefcase and hands them to his butler.

"Sir, dinner is served." The butler bows and leaves to put his coat away. While I follow Seto into the dinning room. There are two plates across from each other, and two forks on each monogrammed linen with each wine glass filled. Where's the third?

"I already ate, sorry Seto, since you weren't home and you have a habit of not coming home until around 10. So, I ate without you." Seto gives a small nod, and if he had the capability to blush from embarrassment, he would have. "Joey meet me in the game room after dinner, I'll wait for you to eat more sugar then necessary." After gives his brother another hug, he runs off. Great, so I have to eat dinner with Seto, alone. Did I spend enough time with him today? It will be so much fun getting reprimanded by him because I was never taught how to eat with a knife and fork properly. I take a seat and a salad is put in front of me almost immediately. I take a guess at the correct fork, the smallest one on my far left and stab my lettuce.

"You can actually learn, part of me is shocked." Back to our normal banter, it seems. I set the fork down and grab the dinner fork. Just to do something wrong, against what he said. But he's back to normal again, which I find comforting. Its something that's normal, and more importantly predicable. When the salad is taken away, I ask the butler for can of soda. He looks at me with uncertainty, but when the soup is served I get my can of soda. It totally doesn't go with the meal at all, but who cares? I grab the teaspoon for the soup.

"I have the urge to offer you beer, but it would seem to be too informal for the meal." I can't tell if that was a comment on the fact that I'm drinking soda, or that I hate water.

"I would decline anyway. Alcohol in isn't something I drink. I attempted to when I ate dinner with you before, but I realize I hate the taste. It isn't sweet in the least, and kind of tastes like vinegar. Which is great on salads, but you don't see people drinking salad dressing do you?"

"I would have assumed that you had."

"Drunk salad dressing? I never really had it to drink, so there is your issue." I smirk, I know that is not what he meant, but it was too easy.

"In that case, would you like some? It can be arranged." I don't think we can ever have a normal conversation; it's insults or ridiculous. For the record, I am fine, I prefer the Kaiba that talks about drinking salad dressing then any other Kaiba I've met so far.

"Your offer is much too kind, but I must refuse on the grounds that I just don't think that it would go with this meal. While my soda is pleasantly sweet to counter the spice of this soup, salad dressing would just over power the delicate flavors of the meal." I think I might have watched too much Food network recently (But then again "Cupcake wars" is the shit.) and, the butler walked in on that comment. I smile, and wait for Seto to reply. I hope that he gives me a serious reply, to confirm that he is a stick in the mud.

"One of the few thing we do agree on, that salad dressing would not go very well with this meal." He smirks, damn it. The butler takes the soup, and I want to ask for a cup of salad dressing. Just to see, what his butler would do and if Seto would react.

"How about ketchup? I mean the vinegariness of salad dressing would compliment this meal, but it's much too strong in salad dressing. But ketchup is sweet, but has a vinegariness to it that makes it delightful for this meal." The entree is put in front of us; I grab the salad fork and spear a tofu.

"That might be good, but I fear that the ketchup might go better with dried and fermented shark of Iceland and one condiment can only be assigned as the drink for one meal." First, ew, fermented shark and second, at least we're not yelling at each other, insulting each other nor I am getting forced to make-out with him.

"I would like to test that hypothesis, not the fermented shark meat that can wait for a different day, since I will probably be full after this. But I would like to test if ketchup would be delightful with this, not that your cook didn't do a fabulous job on this meal as it is. But the drink sometimes puts a meal over the edge to something that is unforgettable." Your move Seto.

"I must disagree with that move, Wheeler. For you see, as I have already said, I can only drink ketchup with Fermented shark. And this shark isn't some random shark; this shark is my beloved illegal pet shark. Since, you never did come up with a better illegal pet, I was forced to invest in a pet shark. In any case, I find it would disrespectful to my pet shark to drink ketchup with anything else. Even if it is in the name of science, which generally I find is a good reason for a lot, but I hope you understand how dearly I care for my beloved pet shark and would never live with myself if I were ever to disrespect the memory of my shark." Damn that was good. And he brought up our conversation from out date. Secondly, how did he just say that with a straight face?

"But don't you want to make sure that ketchup is the perfect condiment to drink while eating your precious pet shark. Also, I must compliment you in getting into the local food craze that sweeping the nation, very eco friendly of you."

"I didn't think that you would appreciated such a craze, as you so eloquently put it. Put since you have expressed interest in it, would you like to see to my greenhouse after dinner? It's relatively new, but all the vegetable that you are eating did come from that garden." His eyes sparkled every so slightly betraying his desperate attempt to hide his excitement over this garden.

"You didn't strike me as someone that would garden." And I think he realized that he was acting normal, that may be stretching it, to me.

"It cuts down on food costs, I may be billionaire that doesn't mean that I don't look for ways to cut costs." He says defensively. He has to feed, what, 12 people. That's bull, why would he want to share it if it was only practical, but I guess being the cold hearted CEO needs to be maintained. He can't be having me thinking that he has, OMG, interests outside of power and money. Oh wait, that is taken away by the fact that he owns a gaming company, changed from a weapon's dealer. But I don't call him on that lie. If it is going to make this week any better, I'll bite.

"If the offer is still up, yes. I have to have some time before Mokuba and I stay up all night with the help of sugar. I'm quite full from your home grown peppers, I assume." I say as I set down my fork. His fork stops for a spilt second before resuming its trip to his mouth. Didn't expect me to actually accept his offer. I smirk. He sets his fork on his plate and gets up; I follow him. That's down a flight of stairs, down a corridor, which we come to a locked door. Why would he really need to lock it? He takes a key out of the back of the picture of Mokuba that he has around his neck and unlocks the door. I step out of a platform with stairs going his plants. He closes the door behind him. The smell is amazing, dirt, water and very aromatic flowers and, almost rivaling the view of the greenhouse. Vines with little purple flowers reach towards the ceiling all around the room, and almost covering the railing of the stairs and completely covering the supports of them. On the ground, the room is carpeted in plants. There is a square of grass surrounded on three sides with healthy looking plants, and then pathways weave their way around all the vegetation. Tomato plants closest to us on the right, climbing their way up posts, still green tomatoes right along side the juicy ripened ones. A little over are vegetables I can't make out, but they're all growing on top of one another. Farther away start the strawberry plants and the raspberry bushes, with bright green leaves getting ready to bloom and bear fruit. Then starts the flowers, starting with rose bushes in full bloom. The traditional red, purple, yellow and white, two bushes deep and then another path. And then the roses completely cover the back wall. Orchids, well the ones that he has, whine around the one apple tree in the place. The day-glow ghostly green blooms, I didn't even know flowers came in that colour, are striking against the trunk. While violets and tulips cover the left wall. In the middle of the square of grass there is a table with a few potted plants, one pepper plant and a very dark purple orchid, almost black, among the trowels and gloves, with a stool tucked underneath. I start down the stair after him, he goes over to the rose bushes with a pair of clippers and a basket. He clips off a red bloom and sticks in the basket. The first thing is that the rose doesn't have any thorns on the stem, I mean not even one. I blink, and the rose has turned green. I take it out of the basket and look at it. Its fully green, as green it's own leaves. Why one would want a green rose is another story, but it is impressive. I knew that he is smart and all, but what that rose did was science fiction. I smell it, well it doesn't smell like a rose that's for sure, more cinnamon and sugar.

"For someone that I though barely had time to think," I start, but he cuts me off.

"Joey, why can't you just admit that this is impressive?"

* * *

Thoughts? Is Seto out of character? Also thank very much to "fire dragonheart" for telling me that my chapter was miss posted/had all formatting markers. I hope this chapter is easier to read then the other.


	26. Chapter 26

Laughably bad faux science ahead, just a warning.

The volume of his voice is higher then normal; I drop the rose I'm holding. Please not again, I feel my heart rate climb. He clips another from the white rose bush, that one turns black. He doesn't seem to keen on continuing his questioning. I came down in the name of the week, in some vain hope that this week won't be hell for both. Maybe if I get him an environment that is his, purely his, I can talk to him like a human.

"So, how did you do it? I thought that something like this, a rose that turns unnatural colours and doesn't smell like a rose was pure fiction. I bet they would be hit for Valentines Day, I'd buy one if I actually had someone. And where's the blue ones, I thought that would be your first." I pick up the green rose again and twist it between my thumb and first finger. I know that I didn't answer the question, or give him a straightforward compliment. I hope he doesn't push the issue.

"I hope that you remember at least a little from science class," Thank god. "First the reason for colour is because that wavelength is reflexed back to us. Second, roses produce three pigments, yellow, magenta and white. How you get red is mixing them in the right proportions. Which is how they get their colour when they are on the bush. When I cut them, they go into hibernation mode basically, so those pigments shut down, presenting the opposite colour on the colour wheel. How I forced the rose to do this is much above your head, basically, but barely, I created nanogenes. Part of these rose's original genes, the female and male chromosome pair, were made of silicon. Which, as you may or may not know, is what microchips are made of. Put it simply I coded the gene I want on to that easily coded piece of silicone, and attach it to the male part of the flower. Colour is not a very complicated gene to create. The silicone chip is converted into carbon when it starts to divide. While Smell is just chemicals, and I got the rose to emit the chemicals of sugar and cinnamon using about the same method." He actually responded to my question and didn't just tell me shut up because it's over my head. As much as he still used the same flat-affect as usual, he said more then three lines about any one topic. I have a feeling that this is like Yugi and Duel monsters. In fact, I find it kind of funny how desperately he tries to hide his enthusiasm over these flowers. I am very well aware that Seto is in fact human, not some saint but he has never claimed to be that.

"I'm listening, I have nothing better to do." Let see if I can actually get him visually excited over something, I think my week with be complete if I do. I grab on a seat on besides him, as he continues to snip roses off the bush. Mokuba can wait.

"My issue with explaining it is that the method I used can't be simplified into a high school diagram for you to understand." It seems miracles don't happen, Seto will never be normal and actually talk about something that he's interested in when given the stage to talk about to his heart content.

"Fine, at least explain why they even exist. I've heard that you're not the romantic type."

"They're one of my pet projects, much like how the Blue eyes white dragons that are up in Mokuba's game room started. I choose a rose to experiment on because it was my mother's favourite flower; she always grew roses and lamented that she could never get a blue flower. The irony is that blue is the only colour I can't seem get, I tried orange four times and they died before the blooms came." Those words came out of Seto mouth easily, and small smile that he's having a bad time trying to hide. His shoulders had relaxed, and brows fully over both eyes. I'm guessing that he'll clam up soon and start getting defensive and start insulting me again. To be honest, if I met this person four years ago, the person that I'm talking to right now, the tech geek that could probably talk for hours on the intricacies of these flowers and his theories over why he can't seem to get a blue rose. I could see myself being friends with him.

"So, why are there no thorns?"

"I thought that would obvious, everyone hates the thorns." He stands up and moves over a bush.

"My mother could kill dirt and couldn't make cookies taste good. That's with using a recipe, and following it to the letter. I still don't know how she does it. Can you make fail safe bake ware that could make food always taste good?" He stands up with a basket full of roses, and moves to the table. I stand up and take a seat on the stool.

"I'm not shocked, your genes were never that great. I still can't quite figure out how Serenity happened." Get in line, Duke and Tristan called dibs.

"Great, you want to date her too?" I funnily enough got a smile out him for that, now I'm nervous. I used to fine with her coming over to play video games, was Seto secretly crushing on someone that is his brother's age? Is this why Serenity was so comfortable in my house? He takes a rose out of the basket, takes a petal, grabs a slide and a microscope.

"No, I'm not about find someone my brother's age sexual attractive. But as 13 year olds go, she isn't annoying." I cut him off.

"It's because of her _awesome_ older brother." He pauses, what no insult?

"That logic must work for Mokuba too, because I don't find him annoying and by your enthusiasm to spend time with him I can conclude that you don't either." He says very matter-of-factly. Nice come back. He slides the one of the five slides he made under the microscope and focuses the scopes, picks up the pencil and starts to write in shorthand that I won't even try to understand. But he didn't refute the statement.

"But not much can be said when you were 13, you didn't have a awesome older brother." He's only half listening to me by now, his hand flies across the page filling it in a matter of minutes. He doesn't have his intimating white coat; he's concentrating on something that he loves, and the most relaxed I've seen him around me. It's a totally different person. Why do I have this strange feeling that hate isn't his emotions towards me anymore?

"And neither did you, and you didn't have much going for you. But that hasn't changed much since then." That's what I was looking for, a snide comment. I smirk, but don't respond, let's see what happens if I don't cave.

"No rebuttal?" He looks up from his microscope, his eye brows go towards each other.

"Because, why can't you admit that you don't hate me? It will make this week ten times more pleasant, and I'll be better on Saturday with your guests."

"Are a you calling a truce on our four year war?" That's one way of putting it.

"Basically."

"It's doesn't matter if I do or not, the facts remain that I need you pretend to date me for another week and, if you do fuck up at my launch I pull everything out from under you. So my emotions toward you don't factor, just that you act the way I want." I take everything I thought about him, he's a complete asshole and won't change that ever. He's a fucking good actor, that's for sure. This week will be as bad as I originally thought. I don't let myself respond, all I do is just get off the stool and out the door. I already know he doesn't care if I'm angry with him; he's America and I'm Japan. He has the atomic bomb, no matter how many men I have I can't win. How did Mokuba end up to a nice guy?! And how did I ever tell the reports those things?

By the time I'm to the game room, there isn't steam out of my ears. But he had better not come into the game room at least for the night. The Prototype 3 lands on my head, and curl his tail to lie on my shoulder. I shoo him off, I don't want to be reminded of Seto ever. "Good, you're here. Do you want sprinkles?" I nod, and then a minute later a chocolate sundae is stuck in front of me, in a tall glass with a spoon. I take a bit, and of course, Seto even buys expensive ice cream. I mindlessly eat it, and interact with Mokuba, but not really being the best dessert companion. When I'm about half way done and Mokuba is debating if he wants another, I ask "What's it like to live with Seto?" I spit the name, how does this kid deal with that big of an asshole.

"What do you mean? Personally, live with is debatable. You probably see him more often then I do, purely because you go to school with him. When he does have time to just hang out with me, he never answers his phone, and really does spend quality time with me. And as much as people think that he's a robot, and I do have points in my life that I can't help but agree, he really isn't. I can attest to that. But as far as living with goes, I sometime forget that he's home." So, he's never home, or always in his study. Awesome.

"And where were you? I know it's doesn't two hours to eat dinner." Mokuba asks.

"I made the unfortunate decision to accompany Seto to his greenhouse." Mokuba's eyes go wide, and his mouth drops a little. ?

"Even I've never been inside Seto's greenhouse, I only know what comes out of it. His orchids and roses are beautiful, and his tomatoes are the best I've ever eaten." Wait, WHAT THE FUCK?! "One question, does he grow pot? I've asked and he doesn't answer and he was going to smoke it, he would grow it himself. I think we both know that he sort needs some."


	27. Chapter 27

"Not that I could tell, unless he is making them look like peppers and highly addictive somehow." Mokuba smiles. "So that's what his new marketing strategy is, I see. From publicity stunts, to making his consumers addicted to his products and they don't why. Very devious...remind me to congratulate him for making pot addictive."

"While making all the parents think they giving their kids a healthy meal." I put the last spoon of semi-melted ice cream in my mouth, while Mokuba seems to have decided against a second sundae.

"Joey what movie? We have pretty much every good movie ever made, but I'm feeling like Men in Black for some reason. But if you haven't seen the last two we have those somewhere too"

"Work for me, I'm find with a MIB marathon." With a few clicks of the remote, Will Smith is shooting aliens on a massive screen. At around 3 in the morning, the sugar has spiked and dissolved leaving me about ready to fall asleep if I let myself. I say goodnight to Mokuba and go the room I stayed in the last time I was here, grabbing the Blue Eyes that seems to have taken a liking to me.

I turn on the light to my room and find what I expected, a pair of black pyjamas laying on my bed, stationary and pen on the desk, my school bag next to the stationary. But I didn't expect was a crystal vase with about a dozen green, black, and purple long stemmed roses on bedside table. I'll admit they are very pretty. I sniff, it smells like freshly baked cinnamon buns in my room. I'm not about to complain about the smell, besides that it does make me hungry for yeasty buns with icing. I cross the room and go to take another larger sniff of the roses. A yellow post-it note on it and other relatively large package stuck behind the roses. I first pick up my phone and read the post-it note. "I'm not your secretary, Yami texted me that you forgot your phone in the park. -Seto Kaiba" I guess Seto Kaiba is my mail delivery man, I'm in someways fine with that. Then I grab the package and look it over. It has a pretty standard brown paper wrapping over a cardboard box. There is no indication of who the heck would give me gifts at Seto's house. It can't be from Seto, he wouldn't give me a gift without some reason. Also he wouldn't wrap it. Maybe Serenity, since she assumed I would be staying here during break. I shake it, and two things knock together. Both are pretty soft, but not soft enough to be clothing. Hm, weird. Maybe its the crazy girl. That would make great press. Here goes nothing, I tear the paper and find what I expect, a brown cardboard box but its scotch taped shut. So it can't have come in the mail. Ok, things just weirder. This crosses out the crazy girl and my little sister, and there is not dead cat smell. I cut the tape with my nail and open the flaps. Inside is a belt and a card holder. I really have no clue who would have given this to me wrapped up. I take out the belt first, a pretty standard black belt with red stitching and a gold buckle, flip over and read "Cowhide" and "Jrocket and Cones". I have no clue about belt or clothing in general, but it does feel nice. Then I place it on the bed, and take the card holder, the second I pick it up I realize, with cards in it. It is made of the same leather as the belt with red stitching, they make a nice pair. I open the flap and take the cards out. Every single one of them is brand new, never been played with, and has a Kaiba Corp logo at the bottom. The first batch of card with Kaiba Corp logo hasn't even come out yet. I start to flip through it card by card, baby dragon, time wizard, a replica of my lost deck. I smile a massive smile and feel happier then I've felt since this charade began. When I had no clue why Seto Kaiba gave me a house, but didn't really care since it wasn't my problem. When I get to the end I have to correct myself, almost a replica, there is no "Red Eyes Black Dragon". Which will be impossible to replace, and weaken my deck heavily. I still smile. I have a useable deck, so as long as Yugi doesn't expect me to actually win against him I should be fine. Also at the back on the deck is a blank card, just a blank card with no indicator of who sent this. I put them back, thread the belt through the loops and go to bed. Hopefully, I don't start swearing at Seto for being such an asshole, but the deck helped. Also, I really hope I don't see Seto without a shirt this time.

I wake up and go to take a shower. Its stupid for me to be an asshole to Seto, it makes no difference if I am. But it is marginally better if I treat him like a normal person. This doesn't mean I want to see him without a shirt though, just saying.

Luckily the next time I see Seto, he is fully clothes and fully distracted by the morning newspaper on his Dpad. His brows are ruffled and he sips his coffee a little too intently for comfort. But when I walk into the room, he doesn't say anything. That can't be good, and that means I'm fucking screwed. No one believed the bullshit I said yesterday. I'd better start packing my bags. I take a seat across from Mokuba and a cup of coffee and eggs with shaped pancakes are put in front of me almost immediately. Mokuba has half of a dinosaur on his plate. With my mouth full of eggs, I say.

"So, did the reporters actually believe what I said? However much bullshit it was."

"Yes. They believed in the authenticity of our relationship." Isn't that what we wanted?

"A little to much, Here." He hands me the Dpad, as I read through the article. The article came from "People Magazine"; I have to guess this is a one-time thing. It called my devotion "cute to say the least." and "ultra-romantic". Can I puke now or on Seto? I as I continue I see why he looks at like that. They go on about Seto's "out burst" at his board's disapproval of our relationship and recommendation of a board member's removal, calling it "shocking" and "immature". I think that there was more to it then that. "After his board rejected his proposal, he stormed out like a spoiled child into the arms of his boyfriend. Whom, shall we say, rewarded that behaviour." That awful time in his office, people thought it was us sleeping together! I guess if you have a massive office, that is one thing I expect he's done before.

"Well our cover hasn't been blown." is the only thing I can really think to say. That article makes me out to be a worshiping fan boy that puts up with Seto's diva behaviour. I'm not happy, but I can'y do anything about. I hand the tablet back.

"That is about the good that can be said. Damn it, and I have no clue who gave them anything. I got the letter covered." He takes his coffee and leaves the table. Ok, I'll let him deal with the press. I turn to Mokuba.

"Mokuba, what are your plans for the day?" Mind as well use the perks of dating Seto.

"Going over to a friend's house to play Capmon. You borrow my driver, if that is what you're asking. But when you do come home, Seto got sims 5 pre-release. I'm giving mine the grilled cheese aspiration, with Duel monsters expansion pack." Sweet, now, I'm assuming that they need my help at the Game shop. They always do, and I kind of should go get my phone.

I call the limo around, and climb in. "The game shop." I feel a little like an idiot, but I really don't feel like walking. I mean, I could but I really do want to exploit the fact that I can order people around for a week.

I hop out, thank the driver, and walk in to the game shop. It hasn't changed since Sunday, just a small sign that people could pre-register for the mini duelling arenas and they could try them out. Also, there is vastly more people. Yugi is helping an old woman, while Yami is checking someone out. There is one person trying to get attention Yugi attention. They asked if I was coming because they need help with the game shop, damn alternative motives. Not that they haven't been doing this on a normal basis since I have more free time, and I'm happy to help.

"Hey Joey. Can you help that women over there. I'll get your phone at lunch and sorry about Sunday." He points at a middle-aged woman in casual clothes, jeans and hoodie sweater with tennis shoes from new balance, on my right. Same old, same old.

"Do you need help or are you just looking?" She looks towards me and, her face lights up.

"You're Joey Wheeler, you're dating Seto Kaiba. I've tracked your relationship since the first day. I think you're relationship is super romantic." Shit, shit, shit. No matter how hard Yami and Yugi is trying to keep a straight face, I know they find this funny.

"Thanks, I think."

"I want something that romantic to happen, why aren't you with him now?" I don't really like him and it isn't romantic in the least. And I would prefer to be here then at his house.

"He has work. He is busy a lot of the time, which I guess that's what I signed for when I started to date him. But we have a date Thursday. Plus, he hates getting interrupted when he works. So what are looking for?" I really hope she doesn't push anymore.

"I was looking for a present for a my grandson, he's five. So he is a little young for duel monsters." She seemed to have gotten the hint.

"Capmon? It is kind of like chess." I grab a package of basic capmon pieces, and hand it to her. The game isn't bad; Yugi and I have played it before, just slightly less exciting then Duel monsters.

"Thank you, I think he'll like it." She starts to dig around in her bag for her wallet while she walks up to the register. While I grab a seat next to Yami on the stool they keep behind the counter. The shop is doing well today; there is a duelling group in the other room using the other three mini duelling arenas that Yugi and Yami were given. The other one is right in front of me for testing out if you are not sure you want to buy it, which I guess is a little on the sneaky side since they are the only game shop in the whole city that actually has the product to test out.

"Joey. Make yourself useful and start duelling." He says in good humour, and start to reach for his deck. Instead I get mine out and start to shuffle. He doesn't comment on the appearance of the new deck. Why does that phase, "make yourself useful" make me think of beer? A small kid around 8 comes up to me with a huge smile on his face.

"I just got my first deck yesterday. Will you duel me?" There is an unending excitement in his voice that reminds me quite a bit of me at that age. "Sure. Do you want a life point handicap?" He shakes his head and pulls up a chair. I smile, and don't try too hard to beat him. Quite often letting him get my monsters, but he's 8 and not another Rebecca Hawkins. A lot of people crowd around to watch our little duel, and the funny thing is that I seem to better at duelling then I thought I was because the only person I lost against was Yugi and Yami. One had to keep getting up to help people, so the other took over. It was a strange duel to say the least, what was really strange was that I don't think Yugi looked me in the eyes once and Yami looked like I missed some massive joke.

We close up the shop around 6, sweep, and the Yami does totals while Yugi and I discus dinner.

"Burger World, on me for once." I say, mind as well use the money that Seto gave me.

"Fine by me, any complaints?" Yami shakes his head, and then writes the grand total down. His phone then vibrates and he check it. He curls his lip, and almost immediately replies a quick message. Then looks up at us.

"We had an amazing day today, almost 9000 dollars of things sold. That's not even counting the pre orders of mini duelling arenas. Thanks Joey, you can advertise new products any time. But I already have a nice stir fry planned tonight." He sticks the money in the safe. He kisses Yugi, and pulls him upstairs in the main house. Yugi blushes a little. I follow. I'm still envious, they seem so happy together. He gets another text, and doesn't look too pleased at it.

"I swear I deserver a free one of those thing by this point. Speaking of which, sorry about Sunday." Yugi finally looks me in the eye, there is an amusement in his eyes.

"Don't worry about it, I realize that you're probably right anyway. We are a little over whelmed, but this doesn't mean that I won't be here if you really need a place to stay. Not that you'll need it anyway, I hear that Seto Kaiba is pretty well off." I smile; he has forgiven me.

"I would love him regardless, come on I'm totally not using him for money at all." I say sarcastically. Yugi gives an uneasy laugh. Does he really think less of me because of this, because that is, lack of better word, bullshit.

"What? I already said I was sorry, what more you want?" Yami steps in, a little louder then necessary. "No we really don't think any less of you. It's unconventional yes, but what do you want to make yourself out as, some whore, his property?" He seems on edge. I kind of just stare at Yami for a few seconds, before replying, "No. Can we stop talking about this? Can we not talk about Seto Kaiba?" It just didn't seem worth it to cross either of them anymore, I have no reason to think that they are lying to me right now. Both of them nod in agreement, and the name Seto or Kaiba doesn't come up for the rest of the night.

* * *

I hoped you liked it. =)


	28. Chapter 28

I call the driver around 8:00 when Yugi and Yami were getting a little on the cuddly side. They just acted strange when I joked about actually liking Seto Kaiba, like I'm hurting someone with this little stunt or something. The store itself is romantic, and the fact that Seto Kaiba isn't acting like himself is just an upside. It makes a better story.

He came to my rescues when I needed it that most. The tabloids just eat it up. I mean, we're not some star crossed lover destined to kill each other or anything, but unlikely romances are hit it seems. Because we are one.

When I get to the game room, Mokuba has everything set up and he hands me computer keyboard with touch pad. The wall sized television shows the neighborhood with only one family moved in. The house that they live is small, but with an alien satellite and solar panels. I hover my mouse over the house. They have over a million simloans, and the only characters are two men, married. One with brown hair and the other is dirty blond, who knew that Serenity would make a gay couple that look suspiciously like Seto and I. They also own three blue white dragons, and a red eyes.

Mokuba does really pick the grill cheese aspiration and has to make his sim a grilled cheese every five minutes. While mine has the popularity aspiration and really likes to make friends.

We do what people always do when they play the Sims, killing off all the children, alien babies and creating a romance between an alien baby and its father. Cheating so that we have unlimited funds, and buying a room of love tubs. Basically we spend the rest of the night creating the most awesome soap opera. Until Seto comes in the game room.

He grabs another keyboard and starts to play the gay couple that looks a lot like us. He doesn't ask what Mokuba did all day, and the first thing that he does kill off the sim that looks like him. Well, at least he's not taking his angry out on me and pieces of code can't feel pain.

"Was it intentional that you just killed off the person that look like you?" I ask.

"Bits of code don't feel pain or grief." He point the blond one to a swimming pool, and takes away the ladder. Great now he's killing me off.

"There are medications for those types of thoughts you know. I've heard that they work well."

"I've also heard that a shark attack work just as well for ending those thoughts. My illegal pet shark does need his dinner." Mokuba looks at him a little funny. I stick a ladder to let myself out of the pool, but don't reply. At least one snide remark is necessary, but if he is willing to kill his look alike, I doubt he needs my input. Did I seriously just let Seto off the hook for the night? I guess subconsciously, I want to draw out the person that I was talking to yesterday in the greenhouse. I doubt I'll get him as relaxed as I did yesterday, so anything I say will be replied to with a sarcastic comment. But old habits die hard, I prefer old habits then bad new ones.

"But does your shark really want to eat his caretaker? Just think of your beloved shark, I personally would never want to eat the person that feeds me, but I'm not a shark. And if you don't think that is a reasonable reason not to kill yourself via shark, you will never be able to eat fermented shark with ketchup. Which, after long contemplation, have concluded to be the best meal that can ever be made." Mokuba I think just gave up on us after that fabulous comment.

"You do have a very good point, I wouldn't want to eat my caretaker in a moral sense. But in a more poetic sense, you give your most precious belonging to your faithful beast. You give them your last strength." I see that we are at whatever someone would call this is, contemplating things that would never happen. Mokuba changes games to Mario Kart, to make sure there are no pixel suicides.

"Now I'm not saying that isn't poetic and shit, but you are the caretaker. I think that your shark owns itself to you and it is your born right to eat your shark fermented. That it wouldn't be poetic justice without a dinner of shark. That all I'm saying." I spot a small smile on Seto's face, wait, how did I cheer him up? The blues eyes are curled up on each of our laps, sometimes bumping our hands and making us go out of the court. Mokuba sets down his controller, he seems to have just given up following our conversation.

"And I understand that, but what I understand about my shark and you don't seem to, he owns me nothing and I give him food and a nice aquarium at my own personal expense. I will eat him because that he is what he wants, not because he owns me anything. Night Mokuba."

"Night. Night Joey, Mai never killed innocent bits of code with me." He hugs his brother and leaves the room. I catch a glimpse at Seto's watch, 10:30. Hang out with a Seto Kaiba that seems to be a decent mood or go to bed when I'm not tired. I decide to beat Seto at Mario kart again, something I feel I should be worse at. He actually drives.

"Very noble and rightful burial to a brave and admiral pet shark. That got his caretaker thought annoying board meeting, and publicity stunts. Cheers." I hold up my soda can, while he, surprisingly, toasts with a glass of water.

"Yes very noble. His memory will always live on in the hearts of those he changed and, the stomach of he caretaker. For he died he the battle of the viridi surrexit*, that began as comment that blew up to something his caretakers never meant." He takes a sip of water, like what he just said made sense. It's better then yelling at each other, vastly better. I don't care if we never have a conversation is considered normal, if every conversation between Seto and I are like this. I really wouldn't mind it.

"For he was the sole reason his caretaker relented against the feud between friends. He realized that the feud was not worth the costs."  
"And they decided to end their war over a glass of salad dressing and a promise to meet when the shark was done. But the feud had a consequence that that neither side anticipated, the son of the shark's caretaker and the daughter of his friend fell deeply in love."

"So deeply in love, that they begged their parents for the other's hand in marriage."

"And so it was decided that the shark should be eaten at the wedding and cement the families together forever." Both of us go quiet after the last sentence was said, I think we realize that what just happened shouldn't have happened in real life. We don't have any motivation to be kind or joke around with each other; no one is in the room. If Seto Kaiba has cameras for some reason, he is the one that checks them it seems. We're quiet a good hour. Seto is the first to speak.

"After long contemplation, I have concluded to accept your offer of a truce, if that offer is still valid."

"On one condition, fermented shark is served at your launch." I smile. Who says that I can't get back at Seto for last night?

*Faux latin(fatin) meaning green rose.

Mostly just silliness to be honest, sorry a little short.


	29. Chapter 29

Ok, so our war is over, what does even mean? What, does it give us permission to us to be decent to each other? Besides those random departures from reality, like what happened an hour ago. Maybe Seto will stop being a robot around me. That would be nice. And why could he not have just said yes yesterday, was what he did really that hard? To admit that we have spent enough pleasant time together that we could stop hating each other, that I'm not some annoying idiot scum of the earth. I mean, part of the question yesterday was Stockholm syndrome, I guess. I feel utterly trapped and I wanted, desperately enough to suggest it, to make the most of it. Why would Seto have Stockholm syndrome, he was the one that suggested it. It's not even that he has take anything I say, truthfully, the only reason that could have is that he doesn't find me repulsive. Our battles are over, that doesn't mean we're on good terms.

Seto doesn't come down to my required ballroom dance lesson or breakfast. The instructor and I agreed that I would more then likely take the female role. Most of me is glad that he didn't come down since I have no clue how I am supposed to treat him. Can I still sarcastically reply to everything he says or do I actually have to engage him in a conversation about the weather? Instead I eat with a Dpad for entertainment, since Mokuba is still asleep. I check my favourite tabloid, Yahoo homepage. The first recommended story is about the letter, Seto's "out burst" and our relationship in general. Everything is going smoothly, besides the fact that media thinks Seto is a teen pop star.

"Mr. Wheeler, you have mail from your other house." The butler says as he puts another red envelope next to my plate. That girl wasn't kidding, I wonder if I'm going to get a dead cat in my freezer when I get back. I open it and all I find is ashes in the envelope. I take a few of the bigger pieces out and I identity them as duel monsters cards. I really don't know what this was going for? This can't be my deck, that is back at my old apartment still and this girl can't know where my father lives. The crumbling of Seto Kaiba card game empire, or something like that. That is what I say and I'm sticking to it.

"Give this Seto, he'll know what to do with it." I tell the butler and hand him the letter.

My phone vibrates, Yugi. "Coming over?" I quickly text back, "Fine, one condition, no talking about Seto Kaiba." I don't think that they really need to know about our truce, as we have agreed to call it. They probably wouldn't believe me anyway. "I wasn't going to, that was it. Yami also says he won't, as did grandpa." I'll take it.

I get to the game shop right after it opens and there is already a few people in the game shop pre-ordering.

"Hey, Joey can you help restock the duel monster cards. Thanks again. Remind me at the end of the day that I own you for two days of work. " Yugi says from behind a shelf restocking capmon sets. He really doesn't need to. Grandpa is at the cash register, while Yami explains in too much detail the difference between dungeon dice monsters and duel monsters to an old woman.

I grab a box from the back room and restock the cards. I help a few customers and start to neaten up a few shelves, my back to the door. When the little bell above the door rings. "Welcome." I say over my shoulder. Then Grandpa gasps, and Yami stops talking happily about games. I turn around, just as Yugi is coming out from behind the shelf to see who just came in. Yami's mother and father stand in the door way with scowls on their face and looking like there is a horrible smell in this shop. Both thin, mid 50's and, dressed in the highest fashion suit and dress. His mother has bobbed dyed black hair and a purse as big as my backpack. His father has a salt and paper crew cut.

"Mom, Dad, I told you." Yami starts, not trying to hide the angry swelling up inside him, taking a few steps towards them before being cut off by his mom.

"Yami, honey, we're not here to take you away from this dump. All we want to do is take you, your adorable boyfriend, and anyone else if you want, out for lunch." She says like he's 4 and what they're doing isn't going to end well. I hear a small hm from Grandpa, and Yugi cringes. He isn't a big fan of Yami's parents, as much as Yugi can be not big fans of someone.

"No, it will end like every other time you're done this, badly. Why can't you understand I'm happy here?" He says bored. I know he has had this discussion four hundred times and he waits for the day he turns 18 and he can legally tell them to fuck off.

"That's not it in the least. We promise not to bring up moving back, we swear. All we want is to see you in the first time in two months. You're our only son. Its just lunch." Guilt tripping, check. Gas lighting, check. It gets sort old.

"No anyway. I told you yesterday that I couldn't today, I have to work." His already razor thin patience with his parents is getting towards the breaking point. So that is what the text was about.

"It will only be for an hour and half, we promise that we'll get you back here by 1." He bits the inside of his mouth as he thinks up a rebuttal. He can't just say that he doesn't want to see them, or talk to them, since his mother will burst in tears. I've seen it and it isn't pleasant.

"No, I've already told you that I can't today. The shop could get very busy, and I don't want Yugi's grandpa to be here alone." He says, desperately trying to come up with an indisputable fact.

"Yami, you should go have lunch with your parents. I'll close up shop until you, Yugi and Joey get back." Always the optimist or he knew that Yami would never win. I guess I'd better try to make this hour and half bearable for Yami. I already feel vaguely guilty about having to cut out tomorrow and go have a date with Seto Kaiba.

"1, I'm giving you until 1. The restaurant has to close to here, within 1 mile of here."

"Oh, thats fine honey." His mother says in slightly shrill voice. I put the box back into the back room, and climb into the Yami's parent's limo. Yami agrees to a small italian restaurant a little under 1 mile from the game shop. A very high end place, and the place that his parents take him to almost every time they do this. No one speaks a word on the car ride there. Instead Yami takes to glaring either at his parents or out the window. While Yugi quietly interlaces their fingers, and give his hand a light squeeze. I think the Treaty of Versailles had less tension then this car.

On the way out of the car my phone vibrates and picture of the kuriboh from monday on a bunch of papers in Seto's office with the caption. "He makes a great paper weight, since you forgot him on Monday." There is an implied dumb ass in there, but it is implied not explicit. Also, seriously, like really seriously Seto? He texts me cute pictures, but he doesn't eat breakfast with me. I don't know about most people, but that doesn't make a lot sense to me. Familiar, and relaxed, but avoids me.

"Is that a kuriboh?!" Yugi exclaims looking over my shoulder, the desire in his eyes he doesn't even try to hide.

"Ya, they're in testing right now. I forgot him in Seto's employee's lounge on monday, and his batteries died. And his fur is as soft as you think." I cheerful reply. Yami looks over my shoulder also at the picture.

"When do they go on sale? Since our anniversary is coming up and I don't know what to get Yugi. A new duel disk isn't really an option." Translation, he really wants one, and knows that even the first edition is worth buying.

"Not for a while, don't count on it for your anniversary."

We take a seat at a round table with a white table cloth, three forks each and cloth napkins. All around us are large oil paintings of dead dudes on an ornately decorated wall. This restaurant always seems like a stuffy old grandmother's parlour to me. The chairs have hard cushions on them that are just as ornate as the walls and dumb tassels all around the seat. The chandeliers and domed ceiling increase the feeling. Everything is a little too prim and proper. I'll take Burger World any day compared to this. Even the customers are old grandmothers, Yugi, Yami and I are the youngest people here by at least 30 years. I get the same thing every time I come here, so there is no point at looking at the menu. Instead I grab a piece of bread, and butter from the basket in the centre.

Yami sticks his menu up and refuses to look at his parents. While Yugi shifts his gaze between Yami and Yami's parents every second or two, or playing with his silverware. His parents I can't read at all. His father is texting, and his mother has already taken out a mirror so that she can check her face. I don't know what they hope to accomplish at this lunch. Yami is not going to leave Yugi, exceptionally since Kaiba Corp just came out with a new product. The game shop is going to be busy. Mostly, his life is now here and no sane person is going uproot someone's life. Then again, I might be assuming something that I shouldn't.

I take out my phone again and reply to Seto. 'Missed you at dance this morning. =( I couldn't intentionally step on your toes.' I hit send, and Yugi is vaguely staring at me. The astonishment that I just replied, by my own agency, to a text from Seto is plastered all over Yugi's face. The waiter come and everyone orders both food and drink.

"Hows school? Are you doing well?" His mother asks while taking a slice of bread.

"Its going about as well as it ever has. My life hasn't really changed that much. I go to school, I play soccer and work in the game shop. Not really discussion worthy stuff." He says in disdain while buttering his bread.

"Before you ask, the game shop is doing well." he continues right before taking a bite.

"Well that's good." This may be an hour and half filled with mostly dead space, so about like usual. I'm fine with that.

"Joseph, you're dating Seto Kaiba?" His father asks. My stomach drops into my lower intestine, and processes to kill my entire appetite. This won't be a normal, be it boring, lunch with his parents. This will poker finals, but this time, we don't get sunglasses to cover our eyes. I, not only, have to worry about keeping to the story, but I also have to worry about Yami, or more likely, Yugi reacting inappropriately.


	30. Chapter 30

"Ya? I'm dating him." I say as nonchalantly as I can try. In a normal circumstance, someone asking who I'm dating is an uninteresting question. It might be interesting to me since I've never dated anyone, but it can't be for anyone else.

"It must be quite the change to have most of your life published."

"Well yes. I'm not going to say that I like it, but people will get bored when they realize our relationship isn't that interesting." Ok, that is lie. Our relationship is fascinating. Come on, threatening letters, a divaish Seto Kaiba, an enabling boyfriend, and a board member that doesn't approve. What could be better? I give a very quick glance to Yugi and Yami. They attempt to not meet anyone's eyes, it will give too much away.

"I would have assumed that you would spend as much time as possible with him. The relationship is very new." Hm, how much can I play this up? A lot, thats what.

"I do agree with you on the desire. Would I prefer to be spending the day with Seto? Well yes. But launch is coming up. I'm a distraction to him, and I have about as much opinion on table scrapes as this chair does. Plus, we have date planned tomorrow, so it not like I feel abandoned." Huge distraction, yup my playing video games with his little brother is really distracting to Seto. Our food and drinks come. I grab my knife and fork and actually cut my chicken parm like I should according to Emily Post.

"He taught you something else too. Where to?" teases Yami, taking note of my new found eating etiquette.

"And he was adorable while doing it." The idea of Seto Kaiba being adorable while teaching me how to use a knife and fork properly is now forever etched into my skull, and I don't even know what that would look like. "I actually don't know. I have confidence that it will fun, and romantic. I'll see him tonight, so it not a big deal." I would prefer it not to be swan paddle boats on a lake with a homemade picnic, and wine, but I'll suffer through that. Maybe if Seto Kaiba really wants to force me to suffer, a couple's massage. He probably needs one, but it doesn't sound like him. I can't imagine him wanting people he doesn't know to touch most of his body. Plus, that's my job.

"Aww, I think you make a really cute couple." Yugi interjects. I could fully believe that he said that statement with sincerity.

"What's not to like? Handsome, funny, intelligence, and extremely passionate about his work." I keep to things that I, at least, semi agree with. I continue "I can't really complain about anything. I consider myself very lucky to have him." More his wallet, that not really romantic now is it. I spot a smile on Yami's face, as he cuts his ravioli with a fork. Now to do what Yugi used to when his relationship was very new, talk about the adorable things the other person did.

"This morning I found a vase of roses next to the bed, and a note apologizing for leaving before I woke up. He expresses his affection mostly through actions, and I feel sort of guilty that I don't really know how to reciprocate the favour."

"He sounds lovely, really." Yami's mother finally shuts me up. Good, I was running out of bullshit to sprout.

"Now Yami, the real reason I want you to move back home is that I just don't feel comfortable with you living without an adult." The smile that I got quickly disappears from Yami and Yugi's face. Yami slight more forcefully then necessary cuts his food.

"Why? I have never given any reason for you feel that way." He crams food into his mouth, while glaring at his parents.

"You're so young, you shouldn't be living without anyone to take care of you. I worry a lot about you. You obviously have been doing very well mostly on your own, but I feel like your rebellion is just silly. You're going through a phase, and I would prefer it if you would stop soon." His nostrils flair, his jaw tenses and his lip curls.

"My rebellion?" He lifts an eyebrow. "A phase? Do you mean my relationship? I don't really know how to make this clearer to you, I love Yugi. But, if I step back and assume for a second that this is some phase or other. That I will wake up one day and realize that I'm not gay, or I find that Yugi's habit of pressing the snooze alarm at least twice is too annoying to deal with, why does it matter?" Yami is about three seconds away from standing up and leaving. Yes we are teenagers, and yes, Yami might have some selfish reasons for moving in with Yugi, but the fact remains that Yami was behind Yugi at every point. Yami was and is, to use a cliché, Yugi's shoulder to cry on, he doesn't have to show a strong face to the world around Yami. I really don't know what commitment his parents are looking for because I would call that commitment.

"No I'm saying nothing about your relationship, I just don't want you to get hurt. Plus, I think its a little selfish of you to force me to worry so much about you. I have other people that I care about. If I'm spending so much time worrying about you, I can't give anyone else what they deserve from me emotionally." Yami just sneers at his mother.

"I think what your mother is trying to say is that you're being rash and a normal teenager that just wants to do what he wants to do. I expected better. Look at Seto Kaiba. He's going to run his company into the ground because a relationship. He wanted to throw out the only competent board member just because he didn't like the truth. The truth is that he is the public face of his company, and his little relationship just exposes what I already knew. That he is just another spoiled teenager, selfish, arrogance, and reckless. How are you going to get investors when your CEO is snot nosed brat? We just don't want you to ruin your life over hormones." I find myself holding my knife and fork tighter and tighter at every word. Seto is selfish, arrogant and at points a fucking spoiled brat. But the one aspect that I would never describe Seto as is reckless, and I can barely dignify the other part with a thought. It just doesn't make enough sense. I part my lips to defend Seto. But Yami starts first.

"I prefer my autonomy. I prefer agency over what I wear, what I eat, who I talk to, what my hobbies are, and the mistakes I make. I'll take full responsibility for what that brings. Most importantly I'm not your little golden child to brag about to your friends, not anymore." His voice is as calm and as composed as if he is just answering a question in class. Not that he just told his parents that he never wants to hear or see them again. He throws his napkin on his plate and gets up. Yugi and I follow suit. We just turn our backs and leave, since it is no use arguing with his parents.

Yugi grabs Yami's hand, but doesn't say a word. I walk a step back from them and just observe. They walk perfectly in sync. Yugi more then likely never notices it but Yami always shortens his strides slightly so that Yugi doesn't need keep catching up. While Yugi raises his hand so that Yami doesn't have stoop when they hold hands. But they don't talk, Yugi doesn't ask what is wrong. For most part he knows whats wrong, Yami can't stand how his parent don't respect anything he does for himself. They called his relationship a phase. The fact that he helps his boyfriend out a little is met with ridicule and guilt trips. I'm still envious of their relationship. Even when Yami had a massive fight with his parents, Yugi knows that Yami doesn't want to talk about until he has fully processed it. They just seem to get each other in someway.

"Joey, how true was that story?" Yami asks me. No one is around us, we're on a street surrounded by store backs.

"Guess." I speed up and get in front of them.

"There seemed to be some truth to it. Come on, poker wasn't never your best game."

"The flowers were the seed of truth. I found flowers on my bed stand, but no note." I can't give them a reason why they existed, and I feel foolish even telling them about it. They were flowers, they just made the room smell pretty. Maybe it was Seto's idea of sprucing up a room.

"So you don't really know why. Fair enough. Also what did you want to tell my parents? I'm just curious, since you seemed on the verge of defending him in ernest." I thought that we weren't going to talk about Seto Kaiba, but I don't say anything.

"I agree that he is selfish, and arrogant. But the last thing I would describe him as is reckless or rash. The fact that he wanted that board member gone is nothing new and he seems to have good reason to want him gone." Yami actually smiles at that.

By the time we're back to the game shop, Yami, Yugi and I have all but forgotten that horrendous lunch. We walk in at 12:55 and immediately start working. Most of the rest of day flies by in a blur of customers, restocking, and a long drawn out duel between Yami, Yugi, Grandpa and I using Yugi's and Yami's decks.

We close the shop, eat dinner, and play the newest board game that the game shop got pre-release. I leave around 9 with everyone in very good sprits, even after that horribly dumb game.

Not quite as bitchy as Joey's mother.

Does Yami seem a little spoiled to anyone? When rereading this he seems little spoiled to me, which makes sense.


	31. Chapter 31

When I am walking to the game room to go do non-sense for a couple hours I spot the butler with a covered tray in his hands. He is about 45, in his normal black and white attire, and looks like he is about collapse from fatigue.

"Do you want some help? You look like you're about to collapse." He hesitates for a second, but gives me the tray anyway. I guess party prep really tires a guy out.

"It's going to Mr. Kaiba's study." Then quickly walks away. I kind of guess that. I walk up the flight of stairs and down the hallway to Seto's study, and then knock. "Come in." I open the door and find Seto with his laptop open, a lot of cord and wires, and a circuit looking things connected to his computer. I watch him for a second, he hasn't looked up. He seems so concentrated on what he's doing. He shoulders are relaxed, and in his eyes is pure pleasure at what is on his screen. He's happy. He doesn't look up when the door opens.

"Just put it on my desk. Then you're free for the night." Papers with diagrams cover his desk under all of his wires and cords. One is a claw by the looks of it with Seto's tiny neat writing all over the page, while another page has an eye on it. But I can't find one with the entire monster on it, probably just an update for his blue eyes. I find some free space on the corner near his lamp and stick the tray there. But I don't leave immediately, I want to see what I'm going to have to deal with tomorrow. We haven't spoken in person since our truce was penned. Instead I take a seat on the same chair I sat in five nights ago and wait a few seconds for Seto to notice that I'm here, still slightly enamored by what he looks like when he's actually highly enjoying himself. There is a sparkle in his eye, even if he is justing typing on the computer, an enthusiasm, an immersion into his own world. He doesn't even seem to realize I'm still here. He finally looks up from his world.

If Seto had the capability to feel surprise, he would have felt it this second "What are you working on?" I ask and smile, knowing that he isn't pleased to see me.

"Why are pretending to be interested in my work? Don't I pay you enough?" He sneers. My smile fades, but I don't storm out like I did two days ago. Or really think much about it, it's typical and tiring to say the least.

"Because you seemed to be interested it. So I asked. But it seems that treating you like a human doesn't seem to work. Seto, I know I'm at a disadvantage here. You can treat me the way you like outside the public eye, and I can't really tell anyone. But let's put this into terms that will benefit you, you'll get more people convinced if I can stand to be around you. Let's try this again, what are you working on?" He's taken aback, I doubt many people tell him to shut up and answer the question. But I do get tried of him.

"Fine, its an AI. When I created my blue eyes, the original idea was a pet. One that can learn and has a range of emotions. The blue eyes programming is abysmal compared to what I want. I was going for the basic, happy, sad, ect. Which could communicate it's needs, but learn to be self sufficient. It's a mess free pet, they eat electricity and can't defecate. And, if the child gets tired they can be turned off. The idea is not new, there are toys on the market like it, but they can't learn enough to be interesting for very long. But I was getting to tied up with the basic features and structure of the Blue Eyes." His voice goes from normal deadpan to a hint of the excitement that I just saw. They're awesome so I can understand why. He reaches for his phone, clicks a few things and lays it flat on the table. Then a second later a hologram of the Blue Eyes robots projects above the phone's screen, only 3 inches high. Personally, it looks like a skeleton plus wires, but I assume that he knows what's going on.

"You do know that diagram means very little to me right?" I ask.

"I'm using it as a high school diagram, this isn't even all of it." He says like I should know what I'm looking at. Really? I can't even pass school, do you really think I can understand something like that?

"I'm playing I can't even pass school card, use small words." I retort back.

"Anyway, I was getting too caught up in the skeleton, how everything would move that I just wanted a working prototype. So the Blue Eyes is the barely working prototype. Take for example, the wings." He presses the wings on the screen of the phone and it zooms in.

"There is two major, I guess, bones would be the best word, that must work together perfectly for them to be able to fly. Spins and loops are still in the future." I sort have to smile at him, even when he makes something that is incredible he still thinks that it's horrible since it isn't perfect. It is not like a real Blue Eyes. How he doesn't see that his pets are absolutely amazing is mind boggling to me. He continues on with a smile he is having a lot of difficulty hiding.

"So, I scraped the AI idea until now. I wouldn't call it next gen really, but that may be the best way of explaining. As of right now, they're working, but they know what they will always know." The sparkle, enthusiasm is something I like seeing in him.

He takes the covering off the tray. There is a sandwich and a cup of black coffee. He grabs the coffee and takes a sip. His hands shake slightly as he drinks his, probably, fifth cup of coffee of the day. His eye lids look heavy and I think he has another bag under his eyes then he did yesterday. Most of me just wants to snatch the coffee out of his hands and yell at him to go to bed. Or just tell him not bring himself an early death. I know this is normal, this is what his life is most days. I admit that I was wrong, he isn't some spoiled rich kid that been handed every thing from birth. He is the hardest worker I know, and I never made his life any easier. He was my scapegoat, I hated him because I could. He is powerful, rich, and, for most part, everything I'm not. His sarcastic comments were never mean spirited. I really had no reason to hate him half as much as I did, all his insults just got out of hand. If I didn't have to worry about feeding myself, didn't just get screamed at by some drugged up women, I probably would have just wrote off his sarcastic comments as funny. Because, now that I really think about, our little war was absolutely ridiculous. We had no reason to hate each other, and even after this charade, even after that exchange, I still don't have a reason. He isn't publicity humiliating me, he never hurt me, if our relationship was true, it would just be a fact. I didn't do anything wrong, all I did was accept help. I hate the fact that I had to accept it, not the terms that I accepted.

"So, can I combine the dolls and your Blue Eyes in an epic battle partnership? Also how much would I have to pay for one? Assuming you don't find one missing when I leave on sunday." He takes a bit of sandwich right when I'm done. Even Seto can take a bite of food at the exact wrong time. I smile.

"I'll wait a second." He swallows faster then he should have.

"The simple answer is yes, but that doesn't say the entire story. On one hand, yes the blue eyes does have the lift capacity to lift the 2 pound dolls and the grip strength of the dolls is about 10 times ours. On the other hand, the player would have very little control over them, the controls don't work that fast nor are that dexterous. Nor can a human think that fast. So it would a very slow moving battle, too slow moving to be interesting. Now for price, according to the first estimates that I've made about 350 for the first edition basic models. That shouldn't be too bad for you, my blue eyes pets are safe for now. I don't really plan on them to be the next duel disk, more of a rich kids play thing. To be honest, I'll make more money off the sale of the technology then the units themselves. A dragon is no where near where I would want to put them out for the world to play with. The other models are all grounded, and the AI is more basic then I would have liked. " He takes a bite right a way this time. 350 I could actually do, I would love one.

"So I can't recreate the epic battle of viridi surrexit, damn. Not worth the money at all then. You said basic model too, so no shoulder mounted cannons included." I sigh. He swallows, and then gives me a half smile.

"I mean basic a little differently then shoulder mounted cannons, personally a little tacky for my taste. Different monsters at different price points. That kuriboh that you forgot about would probably be the cheapest model I plan on producing for at least the first roll out. I'll keep to the more famous monsters, Kuriboh, Death Wolf, and Silver Fang." He takes another bite and puts the empty plate back on the tray.

"So, the three blues are going be one of a kind? So I can't put shoulder mounted cannons on them. If I'm understand what you're saying right, since they are one of the most famous. Once the flight has been figured out to your high standards."

"You think I'll ever sell a blue eyes white dragon version? I though you knew me better then that." He smirks.

"Offended?" I tease, with a small smirk.

"Slightly, I see you have never read 'Art of War', 'Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril'. We've only been fighting for 4 years. " I can't tell if that was his idea of a joke, like an actual humorous joke. But I'll bite.

"I'm sorry that I underestimated your possessiveness, my bad. In my defence, "A man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions, but he makes the necessary formal request to be relived of such mission, the very act of making the request proves that he is sane and therefore ineligible to be relieved." Catch-22. I didn't assume like I always have, I made a formal request to be relived of dangerous combat missions. So when can I get my red eyes black dragon? I may not be famous, but that card is. Or is that out of the question too?" I guess English class had one good thing to it; it makes a good come back for Seto's pretentiousness, with an equally pretentious reply. But I get a smirk out of him, not a condescending smirk, a pleased and slightly surprised smirk.

"'My dearest, has the Count not just told us that all human wisdom was contained in these two words – "wait" and "hope"?' Count of Monte Cristo." It's awkward that Seto called me "my dearest" even if he is just quoting a book. Seto slight yawns after taking another sip of coffee.

"I see you haven't decided yet, and I have overstayed my welcome. Adieu, Seto. "There is a lot more in him then you guess, and a deal more then he has any idea himself." The Hobbit. I'll make a name for myself yet. Also, I prefer the robotics genius, I could see myself being friends with him. If he will that is." I close the office door quickly behind me, to quickly to see his reaction to that last two sentences, and let him enjoy his coffee in solitude. Mostly I was running out of books to quote, I'm just not that well read. It is nice to know that what replaced our normal exchanges, and I'm fine with it. I would even would say I enjoy our banter.

Date part one next chapter!


	32. Chapter 32

I go bed that night half looking forward to our date. He'll make a day that is pretty fun, I'm for some reason confident about that. I would take hanging out with him over having lunch with Yami's parents again, but I would still prefer to hang out with Yugi any time. By this point, I'm pretty much neutral about our whole charade. I took help when I needed it, there is no shame in that. This isn't embarrassing, and so far the outcome has been a vastly better relationship with Seto Kaiba. I really don't even mind kissing him. In my very inexperience opinion, he's pretty good. I pet the Blue Eyes next me as he gets comfortable on the pillow. He gives me a content roar.

I put my jeans, t-shirt, zip-up hoodie and pair of sneakers and go down to breakfast. Which Seto actually shows up for, I decide for the sake of today I won't make fun of him. He is in black jeans, a black t-shirt, and navy blue V-neck sweater.

"So, what's happening today?" I ask as I sit across from Seto, but Mokuba replies in his place.

"An ultra romantic stroll in the park, with a picnic at the end, with violin music played by Yo-yo Ma. And then helicopter ride over the city by the sunset." I really hope that he's joking; I thought that Seto wouldn't put me through something that cheesy. But I've been wrong before.

"No, that would be hell for both of us. How about rocking climbing? Competitive and we don't really need to talk that much." That sounds more like something I can deal with, in fact, that sounds kind of like fun. A plate of breakfast is set in front of all of us, and cup of coffee is set before Seto.

"No weird trust games like they do at camps." He looks at like he has no clue what I'm talking about. "Never been to summer camp?"

"No, as much I've threatened summer camp on Mokuba many times. And then an ultra romantic helicopter ride, of course." I see, he is getting in the role.

The place he takes me is on the outskirts of the city. The parking lot is gravel, trees are everywhere, and not very many people are here yet. The main lobby area is a cabin, rustic I can ensure you. We walk in and he pays for both of our tickets, we are hocked up the pulley system they have in place.

"Race you to the top. Cake is you." I challenge him to the first obstacle, which is basically the rope net turned on it's side that extends about fifty feet up almost straight vertical.

"And in the more likely event that you lose. Coffee on you?" Cocky as always, I haven't come to expect anything less.

"One, Two, Three, Go!" The ropes hurt my hands as I ascend toward the top, my feet get stuck more often then I think they should. It's like climbing a ladder that is floppy and doesn't stay in one place, so I can never judge where to put my foot and know that it will connect with a rope. My muscles start to ache, and my shins keep getting forced to hold the weight my feet should be holding. And the vibrations that Seto makes don't help. While Seto seems to be having an easy time getting up this rope net, he's at least five feet in front of me during most of the race. Also I need to get in better shape, I'm panting by the time I'm on the wood platform on the top. While he seems fine.

"So what's you're next bet? That one didn't work out to well for you. Cake on you." he says extending his help me up off the platform. I look at the next obstacle. It's a run across a log, and down a rope to about five feet off the ground.

"You eat fried tarantula." I say as I take his hand and stand up. He is not someone to back down from a bet. I look at my hands, they're red and a bit scraped up. I think I may have to let Mokuba down tonight. My hands will kill me by the end of the day today and holding a controller won't be fun. The bet is a bit unfair and higher stakes for him. He nods.

"One, two, three, go." Seto and I sprint across the logs, both of figured out that momentum is our best friend when trying to balance. We unhook at the rope and again the rope rips at my hands. The sneakers I wore today were not made to have a lot of traction, damn converse. I drop when I'm about five feet approve the net, partly my hands could barely stand it anymore. I try to stand up on the rope net, but fall over almost immediately. I have this feeling that crawling is my best bet right now, and I'm about 4 feet in front of Seto when I rehook and turn around. Right in time to watch Seto fall flat on his face getting on the platform.

"I hear they taste like chicken. Or was that frog's legs?" I taunt. I'm not as good of a winner as he was, so sue me? I find it funny that Seto will be forced to eat something gross.

"That's frog's legs that taste like chicken, they do, I've had them. But since you escalated it to this point, you actually need to eat fermented shark. Without ketchup." Is that he best he could come up with, come on.

"That's all you could come up with? Kool aid pickles, I heard they weren't that tasty. That is with your fried tarantula**. **But one, two, three. Go." The smooth plastic rocks feel vastly better on my hand then the rope did, and they stay in the same place. But my feet still slip around a little because my shoes don't have any traction, by that I mean at all. My arms ache, and seemed to be bruised. Since when I knock my elbow into the rock wall on accident, it hurt more then it should. I swear, Yugi will think that Seto actually did something to me. But nope, just a rope course. Then again, he might have meant that, which makes very little sense. I slip once and fall a good five feet, before the worker catches me. But I don't throw in the towel, and luckily Seto isn't as graceful as I would have thought, he slips too. Giving me around time to get ahead of him and win for the second time in a row. I stand on top of the rock wall, and look around, and I smile. A drop of sweat runs down my face, so far my day has been pretty good. I'm fed, comfortable, safe, clothed, and getting paid to compete against someone I've wanted to compete against for years. Who cares if it is not something that really matters, or will affect anything? And to be honest, I'm happy right now. Seto isn't so bad once he stops treating you like crap; in fact it is kind of nice to have someone that is so combative. Someone that will bet against you, no questions asked and take no prisoners. I hear panting behind me.

"Come Seto, get your game on." He gets standing, still panting slightly.

"Since, this is the last part of the course. You go with me to an orchid show." Fair enough, it doesn't sound too bad.

"You produce a Red Eyes version of your Blue Eyes. Well, at least one. It probably won't sell well, no famous duelist uses it. Yet." I think it's a little unfair, but he doesn't seem to want to back down. The next part involves a bridge, a tight rope, and zip line. The issue if he wins this, we're even.

"Fine, One, two, three, go." The bars of the bridge are spread apart wide and at annoying lengths. It's not a full step, but it's not a half either. There are railing, but they just slow me down it seems. When I get to tight rope, I don't know if going faster will even be the best option. There are ropes hanging above the rope, I grab one and lean back. Then shuffle my way to the zipline platform, there are is a good thirty second of unhooking and hooking again for the zipline.

"See you at the end." Then Seto is off looking unamused at zip lining. I push off a second later, but I know he won. I'm forced to go to an orchid show with him, I assume, tonight. Why, that seems such a strange bet. Not really gross or even inconvenient really, just a little on the boring side for me. Oh boy, flowers! I land just as Seto is unhooked, and taking his belay off. Then getting the dirt off his pants.

"It seems that we are even. What should we do for a tie breaker?"

"Do you really need to ask? You have your deck back; I think it's about time we finally duelled. Winner takes all and negations are a boring bet, and you complained about my last , you lose your deck until Saturday." That hurts, that hurts a lot.

"How about I get one of your blue eyes, and not the card." This is unfair, but I'm not about to back down to moneybags over here. He throws me a duel disk at me, and I put it on. It feels good to have it on my arm, I shuffle my deck and stick in the slot. We go out in the soccer field, since the parking lot is filling up and if I am going to use super advanced holograms to duel, I should do that without any cars in the way.

"Duel."

I actually have him, until the goddamn crush card. Damn, after that move everything goes down hill quickly. Since I can't special summon anything in my graveyard, and I just don't get a card that I could use, Seto just mows my monsters down. Lucky me, he summons the blues eyes white dragon just in time to take the rest of my life points. During the entire duel, his eyes are intense as always, but he smiles, and he actually looks like he's having fun.

By the time we are done there is a rather large crowd around the field. A few people cheer, and few other talk amongst themselves. There was a massive cheer when the Blue Eyes White Dragon came out though. It was a good duel; I'll give him that. I now understand why Yugi and Yami have trouble beating him. There is a reason he's third in the world, and on the flip side of that, there's a reason that I'm not known at all. I really couldn't've been that great of opponent to him.

But god damn it, right when I get it back too. I take my cards out of the duel disk, and put them back in the belt that I got two days ago. Goodbye my poor deck.

I walk over to the car again, and give Seto his duel disk back. Then unlatch the deck from my belt.

"Your prize." I say begrudgingly, while holding out of the deck. He sticks it in his belt, next to his own.

"Need I remind you that it's for two days? Personally, I thought it was lenient." I growl, I'm not pleased. Both of our stomach grumble at the same time.


	33. Chapter 33

"Romantic lunch on a villa, or macaroni and cheese?" I look at both of us. Both of our hands are covered in mud, I don't think that my pants will ever look quite the same. Mud just cakes my shoes and whenever I move my feet, more dirt lands on Seto's rug. Also, I am relatively confident that I can smell Seto from my seat. I know, he sweats. It's shocking. First that he has the capability to sweat, and second that he would actually sweat enough for me to able to smell it. I can't say it stinks, it really doesn't smell all that bad. Gym class was never his favorite subject in school, and probably the class made him unable to be first every year. He always did poorly that quarter we had swim, which I now understand why he refused to actually swim. I just thought he was too good to swim in our school's pool, or my favorite insult, he didn't know how.

He has gotten substantially more comfortable around me than from Saturday. Something about him has definitely changed around me, vastly more relaxed first of all. The rope course wasn't a heated competition, we didn't compete because we had to prove who was better. It was just a friendly competition, that I can deal with.

"Romantic mac and cheese or were they mutually exclusive?" I reply. I don't know what romantic mac and cheese is if I'm honest with myself. I assume it has rose petals in it, or maybe red with red cheese. Is there such a thing? In the shape of a heart?

"I can do that. First, let's get changed out of these. Mind if we change and shower at your house, it's closer."

"It's fine, just promise to tell no one about my beanie baby collection and moldy lemon in the back of my fridge that I named 'Fred.'". I don't really know why he even asked, if we showed up at my house I would have just assumed he had something planned. But I guess it is my house, so I guess I can understand.

"They should meet my beanie baby collection, both of them. Just promise that 'Fred' will keep his seeds to himself, especially off Fetch the Golden Retriever. He has the most emotional value." I snort, I might have to grow accustom to a new Seto. He still teases me, but this time it's just how we interact. Yami does it a lot, he doesn't mean anything by it. Seto doesn't have to act that he actually finds me at least semi-amusing right now, so I assume that this isn't acting. I can understand now how Mokuba actually enjoys the company of his older brother, not just bares with it.

"He will, don't worry. I can't promise Magic The White Dragon won't though, I've come to learn just how much he loves to hug other stuffed animals." I see a small smile on Seto's lips. We turn into the driveway of my house. The lawn still perfectly manicure, polite garden trimmed to perfection, and a tree overhanging the house in the back. Compared to Seto's mansion, this house is a cabin but I can comfortably fit into the 4 bedroom, 5 bath house. The fact that it doesn't smell like tobacco, have anyone naked that isn't me inside, nor have anyone that I don't like come in is really a big upside as well. I really wouldn't care if Seto had given me a studio, I'm just happy right now that I don't have to deal with my father.

I unlock the back door into the room with the washer and dryer, my dirty clothing have started to pile up in the washer. Seto grabs clothing from his car. Oh and Seto can see that I own a pair of Blue Eyes White Dragon boxers, oh the horror. Serenity picked them out as a joke and they just happen to be the pair I grabbed on Saturday. Then we go into the kitchen, my plate from Monday still in the sink soaking.

"A shower is upstairs, all of them have everything needed to bath." I say, trying to be a good host. He goes upstairs, a place I don't go very often since I took the down stairs bedroom. I open my bedroom door. The queen bed unmade, a can of soda next to the liquid cooled desktop for playing video games on hi-res. My headset laying on the mechanical keyboard that makes such a nice clicky sound when I type. Papers litter the floor, some clothing, a duel disk, a towel. On the bed lays a Dpad, and next to it lays a laptop for in-bed Readitting. Nothing has changed since Monday, no stains of undisclosed origin. Someone not touching my stuff, however worthless, is a privilege I've never had. My father took everything worth pawning a long time ago, I'm glad that he thinks that my cards worthless. I have no idea how much I could sell my deck for, I do own a few rareish cards. I mean, not that I would. My stuff was his stuff, his stuff was his stuff. It didn't matter if it was given to me by Yugi, Yami, or anyone, how many broken duel disks before I admitted that I didn't really need one? I hear the shower start from upstairs, I should shower.

I throw my sweaty shirt and socks in the dirty pile, do pants really start to smell? I begrudgingly throw my pants and boxers in the pile as well, those were getting to a perfect state of dirtiness! Just baggy enough to be comfortable but not so much that they start to fall off. I grab a clean towel from the bathroom closet and hop in the shower. I guess I can see the headlines now, two teenage boys too horny to wait until night. They have a good mid-day sex party for two.

We're not even showering together, what type of boyfriend am I? He shouldn't be the one washing his own back, I should be the one touching him making sure he smells like he normally does. If I was his boyfriend, in this weird world that the news articles are true, more then likely we wouldn't concentrating on his back. A little lower and in front, after a fun first part of day, I assume he deserves a thanks. From what I know, which is a lot of conversations through paper thin walls, anal takes a while to do right. I think both of us are hungry, and there are easier ways of getting off a CEO. After he starts to kiss me, not even pretending he isn't horny, putting his desire on display. I can't imagine Seto being shy about much of anything. The water running down both of our faces, bodies, our hair sticking to our faces and necks. He would whisper in my ear, "Please Joey, I'll return the favor.". Then nibbles my earlobe. What the hell am I thinking? Why am I making up an alternative story lines that involves my mouth anywhere near his penis? Ew, I assume he is well maintained down there but I can't say that idea of his penis in my mouth sounds attractive. Not a phase I ever thought I would think. I'd better get out of shower before I really weird myself out!

I dry my body off, and put the towel around my neck to catch at least some of the water. Then I go to my mostly empty walk-in closet, put on boxers, clean black jeans on and look for a shirt around here. I'm feeling like a crew neck T-shirt, V-necks always makes feel like I'm trying too hard to be cool. Plus I don't have anything to show off, I'm an overly thin lanky teenage stereotype. Not a sports star or any thing. I don't get noticed by girls, I've never had anyone tell they like me. Sigh, and this will make everything ten times harder. Yup I'm living in house given to me by a guy I dated for two weeks. I squat down to my lowest shelf in the corner, and search with my hand for a shirt. Yup, that will make every girl go wild, still attached to an ex! All I get is smooth, polished wood. I search all around, sides, bottom, back. Am I out of t-shirts? Seriously? But I've never had time before now to even think of dating, establishing a relationship, or anything. Also never had the money, even in this day and age, the guy is expected to pay. I go on all fours and look straight into the shelf. No shirts to be seen, V-neck it is then.

Then something catches my eye. In the back of my closet, I see the corner of a letter by the look of it. I grab it with my nails, and with a little pulling and jimmying. Its stuck pretty well, but carefully I get it out. I get out a standard white envelope with nothing written on it, just really dusty and about to fall apart. Old, more then likely. Seto said that this house was used by Gozaburo, and it looks from that era. It has a lump in it too, the size of my thumb maybe. I take a seat on the floor of my closet. Since this house is mine now, this is also. Finders, keepers? I carefully open the letter. Before I actually look inside I hear a knock on the door.

"Come in." I say. My door opens. I pour the contents on the floor in front of me. All that falls out is a jump drive. Strange, why put it an envelope? I mean, of all the questions going through my head right now? Mostly what hell is this? What's on it? I pick up the chrome flash drive, with a little 4GB on the end.

"What...what are you looking at?" Seto asks, seeming to be actually curious. I look up at him. He's leaning against the threshold of my closest in the same black and purple. Does he buy them in packs of three or something?

"Besides that it's a flash drive, no idea. ", I shrug. "I found it crammed behind the shelf, it seems pretty old by the envelope I found it in. Want to plug it in?"


	34. Chapter 34

"No, we have no idea what's on it. It's best to assume malware, and to open it safely we would need a computer with nothing on it and that we don't care about. But I do agree, for it be here it must be pretty old, at least 5 years. Actually..." He has an idea, and his curiosity is getting the better of him. I can see the struggle between safety and curiosity. He turns on his heels, I think curiosity just won. I stand up and realize that I forgot to put a shirt on, I guess we're even. I quickly put on a red v-neck shirt and sweater, before he comes back with a box from amazon. Does he buy new computers for fun?

"Can I borrow your keyboard and your computer?" He asks, right before just taking a seat at my desk and pressing the spacebar a few time to wake it up. I nod, and hand him the straight edge from the top drawer of desk.

"Thanks" he mumbles, while he opens the package. Lunch has been suspended until Seto has figured out this jump drive, hasn't it? He gets the package open, inside is a circuit board, a power cord, an 11 inch screen, an SD card, a case and a few other cords that I assume connect the two. He sticks the SD card into the top of my desk computer and looks at the screen. Oops, I have my computer password protected. I move to login.

"Just give me the password, I'll need for a something else probably." Shit! Shit! I made it when I was really pissed at Seto.

"Kaibasucks. Capital on the K." My petty annoyance really needs to be slightly more clever. Yet he doesn't react, just types it in. I'm lucky that I don't have any weird windows open, he doesn't need to know the girly T.V. shows I watch on Netflix. Cupcake wars, still great. He goes to a website, with a strawberry on in the left corner. Oh, a strawberry pi. I've heard of it, its just a cheap computer from my understanding. Why would Seto have that? But mostly I'm not any use here, I don't know what he's doing nor can I help. So I place the flash drive next to my old soda and, grab my laptop from my bed. I take a seat on the other chair in my room, which is vastly closer to the action then my bed and I can see the screen. I mindlessly go to Readit and start half looking a cute cat pictures and reading about why everyone's relationship fails. So far, I've learned that not ranting at partner the minute they walk in the door is a great idea. Given them a kiss, and leave them alone if that is what they're into. Also could I get karma with his Blue Eyes or is that just wrong?

I sort of like watching him work, there is such an intensity about him. I find it fascinating. He downloads something, unzips it, downloads something else, unzips it. I do notice that he rarely uses the mouse, is that a thing with computer geniuses? Are mouses overrate or something? Then opens something called "SD formatter 4.0", and I assume formats the SD card. While the first thing he downloaded gets written to the SD card, he plugs the power cord into the surge suppressor under my desk, plug in all the cords into the screen, and then plugs in the keyboard, mouse, and SD card in. Finally he plugs in the power cord and the screen turns on. A few options appear on the screen, the only option that is in a big enough font for me to read is "Strawbian". He ticks the box and it starts to install.

"This may take a while. How hungry are you?" He says turning to me. I look up from my computer.

"Just continue, I'm fine. Plus, I'm curious what's even on there. Right now my working theory is that its Gozaburo's gay porn collection." I reply. Shockingly he doesn't seems too grossed out at the idea, actually it doesn't seem to have any effect on him at all.

"As much as I don't want to know, I would consider that an interesting find." Nothing, just nothing. He doesn't seem weirded out or anything, it's like we're talking about the weather. The logical progression would be to theorize what type of porn he watched. Am I going to go there? Yes, Yes I will.

"Even gay hardcore BDSM with guys of questionable age or, 500 person gang bangs? Fair enough." I'll shut up now.

"I would be more shocked if it was missionary position with the lights off for the sole purpose of procreation, if you must know." Still nothing, he doesn't seem to be at all uncomfortable about this conversation. Only person I've ever met that could talk about their parent's porn collection like they're talking about school or something. I'm really going to shut up after this.

"Even snuff?" I ask, expecting something out of him, some discomfort at the idea.

"Still would be more shocked at missionary position." Fair enough, I'll take it. Also, I'm hungrier then I let on and a little tired. I relax a little more into the comfortable chair. I'll fall asleep soon if I'm not careful. So caffeine and something that isn't pure coffee. Plus there is no more relationship tips I can find and no more cute cat pictures. He looks back at the screen, all the screen shows is a strawberry with a loading bar under it. Only about half way done.

"Want a expresso and milk based drink?" I ask. I mean, I did work at a cafe for almost two years. I do know how to make most lattes, and yes I have most of the fun syrups and sugars here. He looks back to me.

"Sure, double shot, gingerbread latte topped with whipped cream and cinnamon." Not what I expected really, I wouldn't think that Seto would drink dessert in a cup.

"What size?" He looks a little shocked that I actually agreed to make it. So was just being annoying then.

"Grande. Will that be 4.97?" Cute.

"I only take exact change, and no credit or debit card below 5 dollars. Sorry." I close my computer, and bring it with me to the kitchen. Lets see if I can still pour a good leaf, not that I don't make a latte a day normally. Maybe try something else. Not that I'm try to impress him with my my awesome latte art skills.

First I warm up the machine. I watch a video on how to pour a dragon, seems fitting. Doesn't seem that hard either. Now a gingerbread latte, I don't have gingerbread flavored syrup. A little cinnamon syrup, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. I make myself a strawberry cheesecake because why not. I grind the coffee, hand tamp two double shots of expresso, and then pull the shots. They actually look really good, perfect crema as they call it. The bubbles are tightly compacted with a nice dark tan color. Maybe a little under extracted if I would have to guess. I take tiny taste from both before I combine them with the syrup, perfect in my opinion. I pour them into the big coffee cups with thick walls I have where I put the syrups. I steam the milk and the foam seems to be nicely firm when I run the back of my spoon through it. I rewatch the video on how to make a dragon, grab a toothpick and attempt to make one. After a few more details, like eyes and spikes, I can actually see a dragon in the cup. Damn, he wanted whipped cream didn't he. Oh, but it looks good! I lose my tip, oh well. I pour a leaf into mine, and give it a taste. A dessert in a cup with caffeine, exactly what I wanted. I walk back to the room.

I place the steaming cup next to the jump drive, put mine on the window sill behind the chair I was sitting in. From the corner of my eye I see him grab the cup and about to the ruin the art before he even saw, but then stops for a second to look at the top. Then a smirk before officially ruining it. I think that is approval.

"You pull a good shot. The OS has installed." Yup, he won't compliment the entire thing. I'll take it. I go get my laptop from the kitchen and make myself comfortable again in the chair. The screen on his computer looks very similar to a scene in a those movies with hackers, even the text is bright green on a black background. Is he serious? Do people actually do that?

"Ok, have you tried to open the flash drive?" I ask, while taking a sip of super sweet latte.

"Yes and no. It's encrypted, and it will be annoying to figure which encryption they used. It could be DES, Triple DES, RC2, RC4, 128-bit RC4, DESX, 128-bit AES, 192-bit AES, and 256-bit AES, or even something else." That was a bunch of a letter and numbers that mean very little to me.

"So lost cause?" I ask. I can't imagine Seto taking lightly to failure, even if it is a flash drive that was found in a house. Which shouldn't have really any baring on his life.

"No, but it will take longer then I thought it would and longer then it should because the computer I'm working on is really underpowered." he keeps glancing at the computer, I have this feeling that it won't be that great of a day without him feeling like he gave it his all.

"Don't worry, continue." I take a sip of my latte and assume we'll be here for at least another hour. I don't know what he means by a long time. He seems a little shocked at just how complacent I am to have this date take a slightly less then romantic turn to it, but not when I was talking about his father watching porn where people die? Seriously? He turns back to his computer and starts quickly typing out green text. Then a screen that looks like mine pops up with a background of a large KC on it. With a few strokes of the keys, he has a hacker window up again and seems to be looking at code in bright green text.

"So, one last question, do people actually hack with that screen or is it just the movies that people hack with green text?" I ask. He continues to read the code, changing a few things here and there. I'm assuming he's doing useful stuff.

"If you really want to know, it's a terminal window. I made it look like a bad 80's hacker movie to see if you'd ask." He replies. Damn it, and I did! I drink the last of my latte and go back to cute cat pictures. His screen changes back to the green text screen. He types a few more things and a lot of green text starts to write to the screen by itself. He seems to know what's happening. As the green text continues to run, his brow gets closer and closer together. It runs for a few minutes. Seto doesn't start to type immediately. Hm, strange. He just finishes his latte, then crosses his arms while glaring at the computer.

"Ran out of ideas? Is there any other encryption algorithms?" I ask. He sighs.

Like the rip off websites or computers? Joey would reddit, he seems the type.


	35. Chapter 35

"Yes, but there are hundreds. I tried to get something from the standard couple since they are considered the most secure and the most commonly used. Instead the script crashed and gave me an error. The issue I'm facing is that there are too many try, and having no clue where to even start, trying to use brute force will be a waste of time. So, lunch?" He sounds a little defeated, a stupid flash drive beat him and won't give him its information. He tries to hide just how annoyed he is at it, but glares of pure hate he's giving the computer gives him away.

"Can I see what you get when you try to open it, I'm curious." I say, putting my computer on chair I just exited to get a closer look. He minimizes the 80's hacker window using the mouse and the yellow minus sign. Not trying to show me your cool hacker moves anymore? He then double clicks the top file in the flash drive, called chmod 777* of weird things. A screen pops up, on top reads Kmacs – iu03sg4, with a block of numbers and letters. They don't seem to have a pattern, or reason for any of the numbers, letters. It just is letter and number puke. A word search, with numbers, and Seto is over thinking this? My eyes travel from the first letter straight down, "Qebehsennuf". Wait, isn't that the god that protected people's intestines in Egypt? It looks like a bunch of letter to most people, but Yugi and I spent far too long pouring over Grandpa's old books to not know almost every god and goddess. Got to know the history of your favorite game. I grab the mouse, and open the next one. From the first letter down reads "Wepwawet", another god. I click the next one, Seto looks at me a little strange by this point, "Khentykhety". Again, another god. I think three makes a pattern. I click the first file again and point to the first letter.

"Qebehsennuf" and run my finger down the block of text.

"And? A non-sense word that doesn't even follow the standard language conventions." He says getting slightly annoyed.

"Yes, but it is also a god in ancient Egypt. The other files, have Wepwawet and Khentykhety, both gods. Weird, and I have no idea what to do with that." I say matter-of-factly. "Know any ancient Egyptian based encryption algorithms?" I joke. That seems just seems really random. Which might be the point.

"Actually yes, but I have no idea how this person would have had access to that really dumb algorithm." Wait, what? That's a thing? By the sound of it, it was written by Seto himself. Not one of his best moments I see, but it fooled 17 year old him well enough. He starts typing again, the same KC screen pops up, other terminal window and then another screen pops up, a virtual machine. He turns on the computer that goes unnamed. A distorted and stretched image shows up, all the folders look like they're for 4 year olds they're so big. He clicks, with a lot of lag and waiting, through the file system of the computer. He stops and opens a browser, netScapegoat. Yup, that must be an emulator for a super old computer.

"So you made an encryption algorithm? Why is it so dumb?" I ask slightly trying to make conversation, while we wait for this computer to lag a bit more.

"It was something I made when I couldn't sleep. It was pretty basic cipher based on the key you gave it, and the key of who you wanted to receive. Then you were assigned a god based on some random calculations I don't remember. Every letter in the alphabet was some word that related to it, those also changed based on an enigma machine like dials based on the calculation of the two keys. Every 80 characters, until the name is spelled, would be a letter of the name of the god. Why this person had access to this, knew it existed or why they even used it is anyone's guess." Hm, interesting. He send himself the file and then closes the virtual machine, and the we're back to the green text.

"It stumped you, you weren't looking for some random god or goddess and it got passed your script. I'd say whoever used your childhood algorithm was pretty clever. That, also, has got to cut down who put this here down to what, your little brother?" the last part is in jest again. He starts the decryption and trying to figure out what the keys were. The green text starts to write rapidly to the screen again.

"Pretty much, but the next question would why did he hide a flash drive at this house at least 5 years ago?" Wait, Mokuba has never been here before? That was one of the first things he said when he walked into this house. Why would he lie about that or even comment about it? That just doesn't make sense.

"He's never been here, or he has a horrible memory. He said something about like the first time he was here or something." I muse. Seto raises an eyebrow.

"Hm, I can't really say anything about that. I can't confirm or deny it, but I don't know who else would have access." Oh. The green text has stopped writing to the screen. Seto opens one in something called vi. Instead of large blocks of random letters and numbers we get a large block of even more random characters, some with accents on them. That didn't help at all, sigh. Seto put it through the script again, that again involves a lot rapid green text, and it stops and asks for a password. I think that is what we want, but what password would Seto have used at least 5 years ago.

"Any idea?" I ask. He types something slowly and, uncertainly. After even more green text the files spit out with some titles that are in human-readable text. Also known as, , , , , , and a few pdfs. I think we did it, I don't know what we did but we did it. I hold my hand for a high five, he high fives me, with a content smile at our victory.

"Lets see what we just spent an hour trying to figure out, I hope its fun government files or dark secrets of Kaiba Corp." I say. He opens image1, it's just a long screen shot of emails. Seto zooms to the top most email, from Crump at KaibaCorp to some one named xxxprincess-girlxxx93 at Gmail, dated 6 years ago. She needs a new username.

Adrian,

You were amazing last night, I can't wait for friday.

-Your little penguin Emma.

"Do we really want to read this?" I ask, I really don't want to know his sexual exploits. He scrolls down a few emails, smirk a little more at each very explicit email between Mr. Crump and this Emma person.

"Thank you, you just gave me what I need to force Mr. Crump to step down. We're a family company, I don't think most people would want someone that talks to 15 year olds this way on the board. Emma was a friend of one of my exes. Do you have a flash drive you can part with?" He says with sick pleasure, and gratitude. What?! My forgetting to do laundry really just gave Seto what he wanted, those flash drives will force Mr. Crump to step down? Really, like really? What am I in a bad action movie? But I'm happy for him, Mr. Crump has been on the board for 5 years too long. I'm sort of glad I helped, in a stumbling sort of way.

I dig around in the top drawer and hand him a perfectly unused flash drive. He zooms out and both of us see it at the same time, pictures of both of them. Ew, I really didn't need to a very blurry and tiny picture of Mr. Crump, luckily only shirtless. I avert my eyes out of disgust to Seto's face, he has a very satisfied, almost evil smirk on his face. His eyes hold gratitude to me, and something else that I can't place in the least. He unhooks the old flash drive and hooks the new one in.

"You're welcome...I didn't like him either. But why Mokuba would ever keep that is another question." He snorts at the idea of Mokuba compiling all this. He encrypts and copies all files to the jump drive.

"He wouldn't, I don't know who did this but I'm not about to complain about it. Also, I'm pretty sure I owe you lunch right now, among other things. You just gave me the dirt I've been looking for five years, something that I thought Gozaburo destroyed." I like those words, I'm really hungry. He has a smile on his face as he takes the flash drive out of the strawberry pi and puts the old flash drive in my desk. I can just see Seto Kaiba have a massive annoyance fall off his shoulders, slightly de-stress. I want to be friends with this person. I like his company, I like his determination, I really hope that our relationship doesn't go back to the way it was before after this. He sticks the all metal flash drive to his car keys.

"Also in small celebration." I add. I grab socks, shoes, make sure that both doors are locked, and climb into his car. We speed off towards the middle of the city for lunch, I see we're going somewhere vastly swankier then burger and fries. Would he have taken me to the same place if I didn't give him the clue he needed?

Ancient Egyptian mythology was the most likely thing that Joey would know more about then Seto Kaiba, but Seto would know something about and be interested enough to make a cipher from it.


	36. Chapter 36

He hands his car to the valet and takes a private elevator up to the top floor of the second tallest building in Domino. The host takes us to a two-person table in a somewhat secluded part of this super fancy restaurant, off the main dinning room but still right next to glass. The minimalist steel and glass design shows off the view from up here, even the floor is steel. I can't help myself but stare at Domino City. It is just awe inspiring to look at the city this way, and slightly dizzying. I didn't get to when I was in Seto's office because of, whatever that was. I bet it is better by the night, but on a clear warm day like today, its still really good. I unstick my eyes from the vista before me, and turn to the table for two with a red rose on a steel and glass table. The chairs sit at right angles to each other, with one parallel to the glass and the other facing the glass. Seto pulls the chair facing the glass out for me, so I can still enamor at the view. Chivalry isn't dead, I see. Seto quickly takes a seat to my right.

The waiter speaks up before I can thank Seto. The waiters is a unremarkable 35 year guy in a black and white tux, besides his facial hair. That looks like those 1900's stereotypical villains.

"May I get you some drinks?" he asks.

"Coke" "Iced Coffee" The waiter leaves us in peace. We're back in public, I guess I should pretend to be attracted to Seto. Pretending isn't really that hard, he isn't some smelly, fat, greasy haired, cheetos fingered guy. He has great personal hygiene, besides maybe the fact that his breath always smells like coffee, if anything a little too thin, hair perfect and I don't think he even likes cheetos, but he's still male the last time I checked his school records.

"Much appreciated Seto. But you know," I get out of my chair, and take a seat on Seto's lap. My legs and back laying the armrests. "I would be perfectly happy to eat my lunch like this." I curl his hair around my index finger, I avert his gaze and coyly smile. Half of me expecting him to stop me from embarrassing first myself, and second him. In response to my ultra cliché gesture, he has his own.

His arms go around my waist and pull me a little closer. My heart quickens out of embarrassment, I guess pay back is a dish best served cold. Then his fingers lift my chin, forcing me to look him in the eyes. There is a mischief in his eyes, and then it hits me. It's the same look that he gave me at the tournament, the same exact look. A look that gives him away immediately, he's having fun pretending to date me. Then he seals the deal, his soft lip meet mine. And I just let myself relax and enjoy the feeling. He starts out with a few very light kisses, just testing the waters I see. They just make me want more. His lips taste good. His kisses start to get rougher but very slowly, now I know he just wants to tease me. Isn't he supposed me grateful to me? My arms go around his neck, I am very well aware of his arm on my waist, the other hand sliding into my hair. Then his tongue licks my bottom lips, just what I wanted. It explores my mouth, while my hands explores his soft hair. I will admit he's amazing, how many girlfriends has he hated before me? I really hate when couples do half this in restaurants, but neither of us want to admit that what we're being on inappropriate side.

We get pulled out of our make out session by the waiter placing our drinks on the table. I hop off Seto and get comfortable in my seat; I really hope that Seto leaves a rather large tip.

"You two need a few minutes, I assume." I nod, and he leaves. I glance over at Seto with a smirk. Seto tries to seem unaffected by what just happened, but by the look in his eyes I can tell that he finds the situation funny. And I bet new. I've never read anything that said "Seto Kaiba caught showing excessive affection to girlfriend". Obviously I saw Mai and him kiss before, but they never didn't anything past a peck. Without a word about it though, I pick up my menu. First I have to find the most expensive thing on menu, a lobster dish with caviar and truffles. I'm all for forcing Seto to pay absurd amounts of money on unnecessary things, but I really do want something to eat right now. And then I see, classy Mac and Cheese, with a French name to it. Fromage du, who cares. Second, god damn is it expensive here, 85 dollars for that lobster dish. That used to be most of my food money for the month.

"Well, you filled your promise of romantic Mac and Cheese. I commend you." I put down my menu, after deciding on a sausage and pasta dish.

"You commend me for that, but you don't for technology leaps? Strange, I guess I know where your priorities lie." Why did I just have a hunch that Seto would bring that up again? As much as those roses were pretty cool.

"I'll admit I did like your rose bushes, happy?" He puts his menu down as well.

"Yes, as I said before you're opinion is the most important." Why did he just spend so much time trying to get my praise, doesn't he get enough at work? Or in any tech magazine known to man? My approval means nothing in vast scheme of things, I'm nobody. The waiter came and took our orders. I just point at the menu item, while Seto actually orders an appetizer and main course.

"So, the deep question of the day is what shark are you going to get?" I ask, bring up the conversation from monday.

"I'm thinking great white. I think it fits my personally rather well." What else?

"Of course, I couldn't agree more. I hear that they taste the best fermented as well, have a nice punch to them."

"Really? I don't know if I care for the punch in my shark, I prefer a nice smooth and subtle beginning with a nice robust flavor at the end to really round it out." Are we talking about shark or wine? Does it really matter?

"Oh, then I've heard a tiger shark has a smoother flavor, so you might want to explore your options a little more. But the great white I hear will make anyone happy. Whatever you decide, promise me one thing." He takes a sip of his coffee, and I see his the corners of his mouth twitch with a smile trying to keep in character of a serious CEO. For the most part no one should be able to overhear us, the only other patrons are an old couple, and a few professionals that can see us but not hear us. Also we get our appetizer, some shrimp dish.

"I can't say I can promise it without knowing what it is, I am a man of my word." he says matter-of-factly, taking a shrimp off of the plate. I grab one as well, yum!

"No trying to blow it up with a fire extinguisher and a hand gun, jaws-sque. It doesn't work, the Mythbusters have already prove it wrong." He takes a sip of his coffee and another shrimp. I eat a few more.

"You see I can't promise that. Since I find that the carbon dioxide of the fire extinguisher adds a nice flavor to my meal, the metallic taste just makes the meal. It also tenderizes the meat which knocks off some of the chewiness." He finishes up the appetizer and a few seconds later the waiter grabs the plate. Metallic taste, that is never a good flavor in a meal. Both of us are trying to act serious, both are us are failing at not smiling just as much.

"Really? Hm, for some reason I'm not really shocked. The fact that you like the taste of metal seems to fit somehow. I don't really know why."

"If I had my way, I would have everything taste like sheet metal. I mean, the rumors that I'm secretly a robot are true. So you must understand why I like the taste and can't keep that promise." Can I quote him on that?

"I accept you for you are and believe in human-android love. Most people just don't understand us, but I understand why you can't keep that promise." I actually see a white tooth at that comment, win.

We get our food, his steak and my pasta dish. Both of us go silent while we eat. He carefully cuts his streak with a knife and fork with the utmost manners and class. His smiles seemed natural, like he barely notices they happened, just the dopamine running through his veins. It starts to feel a little like a game to get him to smile, maybe laugh at my attempts at humour. Every time I see a chemically white tooth, an upturned lip, serotonin and dopamine course through my veins. Its little like a drug, I want my next hit. But unlike drugs, this one doesn't have a tolerance build up. Every smile felt just as powerful as the last.

Then he reaches and stabs a few pastas from my plate, without permission, and eats them like nothing happened. I give him a playful glare and steal the his slice of steak he just cut for himself, right from the middle. The mostly rare, barely not mooing with a slightly vinegary and small bit of spice piece of steak goes down without much chewing because of how tender it is. He looks a little hurt and disappointed that I stole...the best part of his steak. Oops.

"Sorry, I'll make it up to you tonight." I say, trying to sound actually guilty and trying to get him to forgive me. His eyes soften at my faux-apology. Fapolgy? Really doesn't work as a portmanteau. He puts down his silverware, and his hands fall and he leans toward me.

"Why wait?" What is that supposed to mean? I am not having his hands nor my hands get anywhere near anyone's penis, I refuse. I swallow the remnants of the steak I stole.

"A kiss will be sufficient, what did you think I meant?" He asks. I think, under any other context, this would be flirting. I smirk, pay back is best served hot.

"You'll see tonight, I would have done it either way."

Before he can respond, I lean in to meet his lips. I close my eyes. He's stiff from slight shock, but quickly his lips soften and he kisses me back, but still lets me take the lead. They still taste slightly of meat. I open my lips slightly and lick the rest of the juice off his lips. It tastes better than off the plate, but the minuet taste of coffee might have helped. I want pay back for last time. His lip open. So I tease him a little by closing my lips and slightly sucking his bottom lip. I breath through my nose, an aroma smelling strongly of his steak, a delightful bouquet of meat, vinegar and spice mixed with something else I can't pinpoint waft in. I might have to steal even more if it smells this amazing, I can just feel my mouth watering. I carcass the bottom lip again with my tongue, just like before he offers, but this time I take it. I explore, he explores the other's mouth. It tastes even stronger of coffee and steak, and it takes effort to keep my saliva production under control; his lips and tongue taste so good. He quickens the kiss. Nope, that wasn't in the plan. You just violated the unspoken rules of this kiss. I quickly break the kiss and go back to my meal. Out of the corner of my eye, he recoils without complaint and seems impressed in someway. We finish up the meal pretty quickly, without anymore stolen food or kisses. Without waiting for the check, he lays two hundreds. Oh boy flowers!

So yes Seto did leave a pretty big tip.


	37. Chapter 37

I grab a map of the garden, and Seto pays. The place is massive. According to my map the place is 650 acres, with a trolley that takes you around the entire garden. Not that I need it since Seto knows where he's going, I just get kind of pulled there.

The greenhouses come up on our right. I was thinking glass box like buildings, the reality is more like Versailles then box. The main entrance has an elaborate dome covered in metal flowers and leaves, greened with age. This pattern covers both arms of the attached greenhouses. This dome is topped with a rose by the looks of it. As we go under the arched entrance, I see just how detailed this building is. In the arches, tiny flowers are carved into the metal.

Then I turn my attention to the flowers, which I suppose is what I am here for. All I have to say is that orchids have a habit of looking like they are from another planet. It seems that Curiosity did bring something back from Mars. I step to the side of the path to get a closer look at one that I found especially strange, I glance at the label, "Slipper Orchid". The bloom has a green center, which four different parts fan out from that central green spot. On one of the parts fades from the green to a pinkish, with a strip of white going across the leaf, all broken up by black strips that follow the curve of the leaf. Then there are two long thin leaves that extend out the sides, those fade straight from green to pink with a few black dots but no white. Then comes where I guess the name comes from, the cup like thing that attaches to the bottom. That looks kind of like the toe area of a slipper if I really squint.

"Paphiopedilum Holdenii. It's an endangered orchid species because of losing it's habitat. And that label is incredibly inaccurate; there is one more than one slipper orchid." Seto explains. My attention turns to him.

"Even so, they are quite beautiful. Ever thought of a duel monster orchid?" He can legally make new cards at his whim; he owns the rights to them.

"Would you ever duel with that?" We step into the next room.

"I have a deck and I don't need a new one. But an orchid deck would have some awesome magic cards."

"The smell is so strong and sweet that all monsters go into defence mode? Someone would buy it." Seto steps off the path again and looks at a certain orchid. To me it looks like just another alien, but this time with three pink petals. "_Ophrys apifera" _reads the planck next to it.

"This genus of orchid I would make into a spell card, if a little inappropriate for a kid's card game. This genus is better known as the bee orchid, or the more rude name for it, the prostitute orchid." I might just learn something today, not that I mind. Mostly I just like hearing Seto talk about something he loves, or at the very least, interested in.

"Sounds sexy."

"Hm, in the plant kingdom maybe. The orchid creates a very good approximation of the female bee pheromones, the appearance and the feel of a female bee for the male. Then this orchid seduces the bee to have bee sex with it." He points at the bulb-looking thing.

"The labellum is supposed to look like the backside of a female bee. So they entice the bee, then the bee lands on the orchid to copulate. It is a fruitless endeavor, but while that's happening, the orchid attached two sacks of pollen to the bee's backside. The frustration finally gets too much, but he flies off with this orchid's pollen. This also is a good evolutionary trick too. The bee won't land anywhere near that orchid, out of frustration, so the pollen will be less likely to pollinate a close relative of that orchids."

"So, what your telling me is that orchids are a tease or the worst prostitute that ever lived?" We start walking again, but Seto continues to talk.

"Pretty much. It's not uncommon in the orchid family to use deceit to get pollinated. Some give the appearance of shelter, food, and, obviously, sex."

"To think, I didn't think that I'd learn anything today. Very informative." I take his hand, give it a small squeeze.

"I had an attentive audience."

We exit the greenhouse, and stroll in comfortable silence, finding less and less people as we continue to walk hand in hand. Until we find a grassed path at the back of the garden, we follow that path in the small semi-dense forest of magnolias with underbrush. No one can see us from the main road, and its not like most people are going to come here anyway. All in all, we're pretty much alone and both of us seem to silently agree that's fine, preferable even. I take a seat on the grass, and half pull him down with me. I lean my head against his shoulder, damn him for being vastly taller then me. Seto puts his arm around my back.

"So, why did you bet that I would go to the orchids with you?" I ask attempting to make conversation. It's probably something like he knew I would hate it.

"I wanted to come and I didn't really want to do it alone. Plus, its kind of romantic." I have no reason to doubt him, but something told me that there was more to the story then a superficial appreciation for a type of flower. However pretty and vaguely strange they are.

"I mean, why orchids? Why the attraction to orchids?" He doesn't seem too keen on answering. "You don't have to answer, it was just making conversation." I quickly add, but I shift my weight so most my weight is held up by one hand and I'm more facing Seto.

"My father and mother were botanists. My mother lamented on the fact that there were no blue roses because that is what she wanted to create. The theory was that a blue rose would give you 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid*, which has medical purposes. A blue rose would give you 2,4-D in economical qualities, so it didn't have to be artificially create it. No one has yet to actually create one, and when I got vast quantities of disposal income I tried my hand at creating a blue rose. While my father wanted to create a true black orchid. The chemical that creates black in most plants gets ruined in production. But a black orchid would give an economical way of creating 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic*, another chemical used in a lot of drugs. I hope you remember the black orchid that was on my desk, that's the finished product. And it creates vastly larger quantities then I predicted of 2,4,5-T." There are many things about this story that stick out to be as odd, first and foremost, I thought Seto's father was the Ex-CEO of Kaiba Corp.

"I thought your father ran KaibaCorp." A very small smile shows on Seto's face, but quickly fades away to a frown.

"My parents died in a car crash when I was 9. Gozaburo ran KaibaCorp, and he wasn't my father in anything beside legal status." He stopped himself from saying any more then that. He lip curled, his nostrils flare slightly, and his grasp on my hand tightens. In those few words, I could tell what it looks like to have Seto really and truly with every nerve in his body hate you.

"Oh." The wind blows a warm light breeze against my face, and messes up Seto's hair slightly. His gorgeous chestnut hair shines in the late afternoon sun, knowing from lunch just how soft and touchable his hair actually is and just how tasty his lips are. Our eyes meet, his ocean blue to my light brown. They hold intense gratitude still, a small amount of uncertainty and something I can't placr. I finally muster enough courage, I close my eyes and I feel the familiar soft touch of his lips on mine. He doesn't tease me this time, and I don't tease him. I just give myself over to the kiss. His mouth tastes deliciously like coffee. Strands of his hair brush my face, his hand cups my waist and moving down, I let it. With my free hand I brush the strands away from my face, and finally get to feel his silky hair. He varies pressure, stroke, and depth every few kisses, sucking my bottom lip, giving it a small nibble. His natural scent is intoxicating, I get drunk off of it. My head goes fuzzy, and I feel a little lightheaded. My heart pounding in my chest. His hand caresses my outer thigh, and I just drink another glass of intoxicating scent. Then he abruptly stops, and falls backward onto the grass. His eyes are hooded, and has a teasing, sexy, confident smile that just dares me to continue.

"Damn it, forgot a blanket." His voice send tingles down my spine in pleasure. The same arrogance that I find so infuriating pulls me in more. When I can't stand him any longer, I throw my leg over one of his and commence our charade. I am forced to use my elbows to support own weight, so I have to trust Seto not to do anything too funny. Through my shirt, I feel Seto's heart beat just as fast as mine, if not faster, and his lungs almost struggle to get air. I feel every shallow breath, and I try to match it. His hands intertwine with my already messy hair, pulling slightly. Not enough for it to hurt, just enough for it to feel like a jolt of lightening just hit me at every pull. My lips start to get raw, but the pleasure is vastly more than the discomfort. I can hardly form a thought when Seto's lips are on mine. His hands move, down my neck, down my arms, and down my side to my hips. He takes his lips off mine, I feel a small whimper in my throat. I didn't want it to end, but he isn't quite done with me yet. His kisses sweep my neck, I can hear my own shallow breathes. He lightly nibbles right above my collar bone. Now I'm glad I wore a v-neck. The slight pain just makes the sensation all the better. Soon they turn into light kisses again, eventually they stop altogether and all I feel is Seto's hot breath on slightly broken skin.

A few seconds go by before either of us open our eyes or even move. At the same time I open my eyes and start to crawl off of Seto. First I swing my leg on the other side, so that both my legs are together and then lift my self into a sitting position. I notice that Seto follows every move I make, my face starts to boil as I start to take in what I just did.

Shit, shit, I just not only made out with him, I enjoyed it probably more then I should. The taste of his breath still coats my mouth, the bitter taste of coffee is a little overwhelming. I force my swallow a few time, it makes it slightly better. At the restaurant, that kiss was just fun. A little harmless teasing, forcing the other into a bad rom-com, but it was completely harmless. Making a joke of our entire situation, not this. I don't know. It was more intense somehow. A larger part of me then I want to admit wants to again. Have I just gotten too involved with this charade? Did I start to believe that I should fall for Seto? When did I start to confuse fact and fiction?

*If combined they create Agent Orange, a herbicide.


	38. Chapter 38

This is absurd in many ways that I could have fallen for him. Friends, maybe. I am open to that. But actually falling for him, I thought that I had a crush on Mai. I mean, let's say I did, in some dimension had fallen for Seto in the past week, it would set me up for heart break. Seto can't feel the same way, he sees me as nothing more then a publicity stunt. We will probably go back to the same relationship once this over, we will start making fun of and insulting each other. And, I never took anything he said very personally, but if I have fallen, I would. I would take everything personally, and that is just getting set up for disaster. Not that I have fallen for him, I'm probably confusing sexual attraction for actual feelings. Which brings up another entire issue, but I can deal with the fact that I'm gay vastly better then I can deal with the fact that I have crush this asshole. It's only for two more days; I think I can deal with that.

He sticks his arm behind his head and uses as a pillow. His black turtleneck outlines his body perfectly, just tight enough but leaves enough to the imagination. It even rides up slightly leaving a small line of glorious hip bone. Not that it isn't really fucking obvious that I'm looking. Shit, I hate that I'm 17, sexually frustrated, and have to kiss a beautiful 17 year old. I swear, he's a fucking orchid himself.

"Why are you blushing? You don't blush too easily, and I think I'd know." Seto asks, his voice is silk to my ears. Remember only two more days, I can get through this. While my heart still pounds like it is going to break free from my chest.

"Oh, sorry. I'm not big on grandiose PDA." I lie, really badly, as my face just gets even hotter. I'm shocked that it can happen.

"No one is around, and its not like any of our clothing came off. But, even so, I'm sorry. I sort of got caught up in the moment." He plays his part well, the understanding, caring boyfriend, where his only flaw is that he is a little too attracted to me. I want those words to be real, I want this entire scene to be fucking real. I want Seto Kaiba to be the person I'm talking to right now, the person that talks about orchid's pollination strategies, the person that will just joke around me with me and talk about random shit, not the person I know. A person that will manipulate his classmate in a publicity stunt because he wanted free advertising and his classmate fits the bill perfectly. Just clean enough that Seto Kaiba doesn't look too bad, but rough enough that he won't fit Seto Kaiba's squeaky clean all blond, wanna-be model image.

"I didn't really help now, did I? I'm not about to ask for an apology because I enjoyed myself a little too much." I don't even have to act when I said that line.

"We don't have anywhere to go in a hurry, and I'm not really hungry. Plus it is a very nice day, unseasonally warm.", he wants to cuddle. The sane part of my brain is yelling no in Arial Black, 144 font, bolded, underlined with three lines. The emotional, pleasure centre, id, insane side of my brain is screaming yes in impact, 250 font, bolded, underlined with three lines and italicised. He moves his arm out of way. Of course my id wins out, and I lay my head on the fleshy bit right under his armpit, and one hand near his neck, the other resting on his chest. While I intertwine my legs with Seto's. I inhale his familiar intoxicating scent, and don't regret my decision. His arm wraps around me pulling me slightly closer. His heart beat under my ear, its still pretty fast. I close my eyes and just let myself enjoy the moment. I can beat myself up later about this. I can try to rationalize this later.

We lay there in silence, just enjoying the other's company, and the warm body embracing the other. His hand plays with my hair throughout, which feels amazing. Every time his fingers run through my hair another wave of pleasure running down my spine. I accidentally quietly whimper at when he stops his petting for second, breaking the perfectly fine silence. My face goes red, damn it. But I feel Seto's hand go right back to petting me.

"That sounded exactly like a puppy, you know that right?" He says mildly amused. Damn it Seto, I even find your teasing cute!

"Maybe. I prefer that to mutt, moneybags." I hear Seto expel air quickly out his nose.

"I don't know about moneybags as a pet name, Puppy." Stop it, it's too much like a real relationship. But I know that I want him to, and it fits with our history. How did I fall so hard, so fast for someone?

"True, its not exactly faltering now is it." I move my body to look at him. Just fucking how?

An awkward pause, those pauses that they both parties have something to say but they don't want to go first.

"Thanks again for those files, I still don't really know how to show my gratitude. Also I'm sorry for Monday, I overstepped pretty much every boundary to put it lightly. I'm also sorry for waiting so long to give you an apology. Not that it makes up for anything, I was horrible to you." Music to my ears, but not for the sane part of my brain. Since he sounds completely genuine, and is like a confused child trying something new. Apologies don't come easy to Seto, not that I'm shocked. He was never the person to admit he was wrong about pretty much anything.

"Apology accepted, but that doesn't mean I'll stand to be treated like that again. You were stressed, frustrated, and tired beyond what I've ever been, and I really didn't know what to do. I've never seen you distraught, and it sort of scared me to honest. You get a murderous look in your eyes, but your voice doesn't give anything away. Plus what you did was the best thing you could have done, backed off." I finally get a legitimate red faced blush out of Seto, and it is cuter then I've ever thought possible.

"One of the many things that made me fall for you, you forgive easily. " What would I give for this scene to be real? I want for that line to not be for the public, I want that line to be for me. I want to yell and scream, and bang my fists on the ground for this scene to be real. Why can't I have this man that has his hand in my hair? Oh yeah, there is no fucking way he feels the same way, and its only setting myself for heartbreak.

I'm about to go back to just enjoying being scratched by Seto, when my stomach loudly growls and a second later Seto's does also. Sadly his hand leaves my head, and I know its time to leave. Its soon back to pretending that I don't find Seto extremely attractive, I don't find him funny, intelligent, kind, I don't want to his puppy, and that his hard won smiles aren't my drug of choice.

I whimper intentionally this time, hoping for five more minutes.

"I want to continue too, but I need to feed you. No matter how adorable I find you curled up, or how soft your hair is, I'm not giving in." I actually sit up this time, so Seto can.

"I can wait five more minutes." I half beg. Seto runs his fingers through my hair once more, and pulls me towards him. This kiss is just a quick peck.

"Come on, we're both starving." He says standing up and brushing off his pants from all the grass. I sadly do the same, no more cuddling. I only have dinner left on this escape from reality.


	39. Chapter 39

I grab his arm and lean against his shoulder like in some bad romance novel cliché, but he doesn't stop me as we walk towards the car. Its what he's paying me to do, I hope he's not complaining.

"So have any deep opinions on the type of food? I kind of feel bad at just deciding where we're going for lunch." He says.

"I didn't mind, the vista was nice as the food. To be honest, I have very little opinion on what type of food it is, since wherever we go, it will tasty, and expensive."

"But was the food as nice as the vista? And is the expensive bit a requirement?" He asks with small entertainment at me misspeaking.

"Maybe, the expensive bit may be a requirement, but you'll find out tonight if it is." That really makes me sound like a whore, and kind of a dick if sex requires an expensive meal. But I should probably try to make it not completely obvious that I'm actually attracted to him. The blushing at making out gave me away, I just know it. But that doesn't mean I have to admit it.

"So how bad is that I want to take you the most expensive restaurant in town or the country, I could also that." He gives no indicator through his voice if he is serious or not. What does he have a plane and a pilot's license? There is a flash of blue.

"Is it really that horrifying to you that I own a jet and can fly it? It's very useful for last minute business trips, plus as one the fastest jets in sky, I can get half way around the globe in 8 hours without stopping for fuel." He has pride in his voice. I swallow, 200 dollars I can comprehend but a private jet flown by Seto Kaiba I can't.

"No, I don't know if horrifying is the right word even. More shocked then anything else, come on, 200 bucks is a lot of money to me." Something flashes on his face. He probably doesn't want a reminder of who's he pretending to date. He can forget easily looking me, there is nothing besides a small barely visible scar above my eye, that I'm a dead broke nobody. All the clothing I'm wearing are from designers I've heard Mai, Tea and Serenity talk about. He doesn't grimace or show any adversity to kissing me, and he is having fun with me.

"I won't completely sweep you off your feet." He complains and he sounds almost genuinely disappointed.

"You do that anyway, you don't have to try. So the most expensive restaurant in the city, I assume.", giving him a smile. Do people actually say that?

"You assumed correctly. A french place called 'Cafe La Bleu', which not only has good food, also good coffee." Coffee, it's always the deciding factor.

We get to the car and speed off back into the middle of city again. He's a better driver then Yami, and he uses turn signals more often than Yami ever does. I never feel jolted foreword even a little, he keeps the car at a constant rate. When did someone's driving ever impress me before? I couldn't care less unless they were getting into crashes. Attraction, I just hope that it won't make me do anything I'll regret. An attraction I shouldn't have! Why can't this get into my head?

We get to the restaurant right across the street from a large park, Seto hands his car over to the valet. The instant I get out of the car I feel underdressed into my jeans and hoodie. Everything from the overhang, the perfectly clean glass doors, and the dark marble just tells me how formal this restaurant actually is. Another guy in a tux and white gloves opens the glass doors for us. Seto grabs my hand as we walk down the palatical hallway. He chose the restaurant, it not my fault I'm underdressed. We ascend the elevator with a formally dressed middle aged couple eyeing us with a little uncertainty. The women wears a tightly fitting simple black dress with black tights and a nice pearl necklace, she hold her clutch a little tighter to her body. Seriously lady? We're going to some restaurant as you? The man wears just a simple black suit and black tie. So, shall I make everyone in the elevator uncomfortable? Just a little.

I have to get on my toes to give Seto a kiss on the cheek. The issues of not-dating someone taller then you by about 5 inches. His jaw clenchs slightly under my lips.. Surprise kisses aren't his favorite.

"Today has been amazing, even the garden." I say slightly breathy. I see the lady's eyes go slightly wide, what did you expect? I kept it very G-rated.

"I'm glad. You know it's not over." The elevator opens and reveal exactly what I expected from the most expensive restaurant in Domino, stuffy white table clothes, wooden chairs with padded blue arm rests, small polite center pieces made of tiny blue flowers and formal white plates with too many forks by each. A lit modern fireplace, with a mostly blue flame, occupies the middle of the restaurant and gives most of the light not supplied by the windows. Again I see the city spread out before me, but this time facing a park and the sun low in the sky, peaking out behind the buildings. I've seen sunsets before, everyone has seen a sunset before, but this one seems prettier than normal.

Right by the elevator, to our right,water flows down the wall in a sheet and carved into that wall is the name of the restaurant. A women in simple clingy black dress as formal as the lady in the elevator's with a figure that could rival Mai's, a perfect hourglass figure and straight shiny black hair down her back, stands behind a podium with a flirty smile on her lips and staring right at Seto. I follow her eyes as her eyes zero in on our hands. I still kind of like being reminded that he's mine, at least for three more days.

"No introductions necessary, I already know who you are." She says widening her smile, so I can see perfectly straight, perfectly white teeth. He observers her, his jaw clenches and his grip on my hand tightens. She grabs menus, and with a walk made for the runway, leads us to the best seat in the house for two, right next to the window. Seto again pulls out the chair for me. When Seto gets comfortable in the overstuffed chairs, she leans down a little farther then necessary to place our menus on the table, so her cleavage almost brushes Seto's shoulder. I do notice he doesn't give her attention, and I think I might be noticing her cleavage more then he is. As cleavage goes, it is nice. Do I prefer tall, thin, graceful males? Yes.

"Tell the waiter I want a cup of coffee, and a hostess that doesn't flirt with a patron when they are very obviously taken. Its not even the same sex." He says without any affect, finally he fully takes notice of her. Her smile wipes off her face. I attempt to hide my grin at the social blunder she just made. She quickly walks away, this time her walk wasn't worthy of any runway anywhere. I wish that was for me, I wish that he was shooing away her because he was actually offended he was getting flirted with. But that is what we want the public to think and if he liked or didn't comment on it, it would be uncharacteristic. I grab the menu and first look at the prices. Well I can see why this is most expensive restaurant in the city, 30 dollars for a cup of Blue-Eyes mountain coffee and everything goes up from there. Nothing besides the coffee has any indication of duel monsters.

"I took it as a compliment, since I know who you're taking home tonight." I say, looking over my menu at him.

He lowers his before replying, "While I like the lack the jealousy, and you are right. I disagree that it should be taken as a compliment. Think about it this way, she didn't think well enough of you to respect your claim. She thought that a few flirty eye lash fluters, straight white teeth and hip swings would convert me." I raise an eyebrow at him.

"Claim? That makes it sound like you're a nice piece of land. Land that needs to be cultivated. Do you want me to continue with the assumptions?" I watch as it takes him a couple milliseconds to figure out what I'm getting at, and I will admit it is a jump. Finally I get a small approving smile.

"No, but you make that sound like it would be embarrassing or I would take shame in that." I see we're back to this, but this time, more then likely someone can hear us since the restaurant is full. The nearest table to us is an elder couple only about two feet away, and I can hear their silverware hit the plate.

"I never assumed you would. Why, can I make my claim?" Knifes scrap behind me, and man whispers. That might have been going too far. I place the menu back on the table after deciding on my drink, a chai tea latte because I know what they taste like normally. What I didn't know about meals like these is that you don't get to choose your actual meal.

"I don't have much room in my green house anymore, the orchids and roses really took over. But if you want to state your claim, as you put it, I could possibly find room somewhere at my house." His coffee comes by an attractive waitress in a simple black dress as well.

"What will you have to drink?" She asks, her voice has a breathiness to it.

"Chai latte, thank you." She takes our menus, smiles and leaves. I turn back to Seto taking a sip of coffee, waiting for me to respond to his last comment.

"Is that an actually offer? Because once I state my claim, your house, as you call it, can never quite be the same." I find this conversation a little different then most we've had. I'm not complaining, in fact, I like it when Seto and I are just trying to amuse, and maybe slightly embarrass the other. I find him entertaining to talk to, and every line makes the hole I'm going to have to dig myself out of slightly deeper.

"I hope you know more then that, but yes it happens to be." He insists. I inwardly sigh and wish that those words were true. I shouldn't, I really fucking shouldn't. It can only lead to one place, heartbreak. But damn is it hard not to be pulled at every smile.

"Then yes, I would love to state my claim." I say as the latte is placed in front of me. I take a sip of sweet yet shockingly spicy drink. It actually leaves a burning sensation in my mouth, I can't help but smile at the drink.

"Tasty?" He asks, I nod and drink another long drink. I can keep myself level headed enough when almost straight talking about sex, but not when milky, sweet, spicy beverages come into the mix, then it is a lost cause. There is a slightly awkward pause in our conversation, where luckily the food came. Small, artistically placed pieces of food on a tiny plate, yup I don't really know why this is going be more than my rent, 300 dollars a person plus drinks. I stab the piece of art, trying to get all the flavors on on forkful, then place the food in my mouth. I almost spit it out the second it touches my tongue. I swallow but barely, is this supposed to be good? I glance over at Seto smirking at me in a knowing sort of way. Why did I fall for this person? Who will spend almost 1000 dollars on a meal that he knew I would hate.


	40. Chapter 40

"The downside of getting the same meal is that I can't steal any of yours." He taunts me eating the last of his oysters, while I can't get myself to take another bite because it tastes so familiar to me. It tastes like cherrios, and a white russian. When my father made our entire carton of milk into an alcoholic drink and I was too sleep deprived to realize before I took a bite. Then I would debate between going to school slightly drunk and throwing away food, more often then I would like to admit I went to school tipsy. I look at my food and look across the table. How did I think this person is sweet?

"Excuse me, bathroom."

"Back and to the left." He says less smugly. I get up without looking him in the eyes and walk to the bathroom. A blue pool table sits in the middle of the main hall, a place that looks straight out of a country club, of the bathroom with a game half done. I walk past that strange pool table into the actually bathroom, and find just a room with 7 small rooms with toilets and sinks. Besides the fact that the toilet seat is blue, nothing unusual about the bathroom. I do my business, and not to be too weird, once I moved out of my father's house and actually ate vegetables and fruits like my sister always yells at me to do, my bowel movements have been vastly easier. Not that I have much of a choice, Seto seems to only buy unprocessed anything. I pretty much don't have anything that can be easily eaten besides toast. Speaking of eating, how am I going to through this meal? I can't stomach the first course. It might be that I just don't like oysters, but I've had oysters before the one time I went to Yami's house for his new years party. Where I spent most of it insulting Seto. That night. He brought the girl he was dating, some blond that I tried to be nice to but she seemed a little obsessed with Seto. I mean, the fact that I greeted Seto with a "Hey moneybags, don't worry we'll start talking about politics in a few seconds. Just to make you feel comfortable." really pissed her off. Now that I think about it, that really wasn't that bad. I just called him a little boring. But damn that chick got pissed off at me. Seto just gave me "Don't worry I'll use only monosyllable words when explaining my point, that's small words if that was too over your head." She on the other hand was vastly less clever than Seto was about the insults, she actually told me off and told me to shut up that I know nothing. He very soon afterwards was dating Mai, but I doubt I had anything to do with that. Really we never hated each other. That one is for sure. I used him as scapegoat, he was someone to get angry at. He's still using me, he still manipulated me into a stunt. Gave me a sample of what a semi-normal house looks and feels like, what safety, comfort feel like and then made me a deal to continue the service. The sane side of my brain tells me to quit lamenting on the good things about him, and the insane side still tells me that a little fantasy won't hurt that badly. But my issue is still that I can't eat the meal, I can't make myself eat something that tastes like that, that tastes like alcohol. The smell, the taste, I just can't stand that taste. I flush and wash my hands after realizing I've been sitting here vastly too long. Cold Chai tastes fine. I still don't want to pretend to like any thing.

I see the pool table again, and the pool sticks on the wall. I can make Seto wait a little longer. I haven't played pool in a while. My father used to pull me to pool halls all the time when I was little. I wasn't able to reach the table and he used to force me to play. That makes it sound like he wanted to spend quality time with his son, while drinking and hitting on women that weren't my mother. No, it was more he wanted to prove how much of a failure I was, prove to me that I couldn't do anything. He stopped when I actually got good enough to beat most people. Also I never got any of money he made off of me.

I go through the cues. Most of them are equally good, so I grab the red one with a nice wood pattern. Chalk it and then turn to the pool table. Whoever broke this game did it pretty well too. All of them are pretty equally distributed around the table.

I'm declaring myself solids mostly because then I can try to remember how to curve the cue ball around another ball. The cue ball sits right next the wall and the best shot I have is a solid ball sitting right next to the pocket on the other half of the table. I line up for the shot, pull back and shoot in the right lower part of the ball. The delightful sound of a ball going into the pocket hits my ears. The cue ball rolls back and hits anther solid ball in another pocket. That sounds even better then the first. Unfortunately I didn't set myself up for this shot very well. My next ball lays in the middle of the entire field, and I could try to jump a ball to get at it.

I make quick work of the table getting in most of the balls with only one try. Even after a few years without really playing besides when my friends wanted to play, where I played dumb for the most part. I normally let my friends win. Then I set up and attempt an 8 ball break. I hear the perfect little thud of the eight ball going into the side pocket, and the even better silence meaning that the cue ball didn't go in too.

"A successful 8 ball break, you must play a lot. That seems like a skill I would have heard about." says the sexy voice of Seto Kaiba from behind me. I feel like I'm getting petted with his voice, if that makes any sense. I turn to face him, but elude his eyes.

"Why? It doesn't come up in conversation who can play pool." I say slightly too defensively for it to be natural.

"No, but I happen to know that you've played pool at Mai's house and if memory serves me right, you lost all of your games." I glare since yes I did lose almost all my games intentionally. He goes on and says, his voice vastly softer, "I didn't come here to cross examine you, at least not about that. You know we can leave. I won't care." He passes me to take the eight ball out the pocket and place it carefully on the felt. I bite the inside of my mouth thinking of a reply to that. He leans against the pool table. He looks like an ad for pool tables. I don't want to admit that I can't eat the food. But I'm also very hungry right now. I hesitate too long.

"Gyros work? Mostly because we can grab them and sit in the park.", picturing a large plate of greasy, salty lamb makes my mouth water a little, sitting in a park with Seto and not in a pretentious restaurant.

"No, I'm fine. I can't hate all the courses." I try to say with confidence, but it doesn't work really well. I go to place my pool cue away so I don't see his reaction.

"Fine, the offer stands. Also when we get back my house, we're playing pool." The table slightly creaks when he gets off it, and he leaves the bathroom to go back to the table. I don't know why its so important to me to want to continue. 800 dollars is a lot of money to me, and even if I don't like the food I would hate for Seto be forced to spend that on nothing. That is some silly logic. Oh well.

I sit back down at the table, the gross tasting oyster dish has been replaced by another dish that looks out of an art museum. Here it goes. I eat a bite of the tiny stack of pretty things. Again I want spit it out the second the stack hits my tongue. Alcoholic orange juice and toast with jam, when I was really sleep deprived and drank a screwdriver for breakfast. Normally really fast too on a mostly empty stomach. I start to feel a little headed, I swallow it switching on my gag reflex. I have to suppress dry heaving all the way down. I grab the now pretty much cold latte and take a gulp. That calms me down enough to take another bite. I feel a bit more light headed and a little dizzy as the art goes down my throat. Only one more bite of this course. I take another sip of my latte, sadly finishing it. I'll ask for another one. 50 bucks is nothing to Seto. I eat the last bit of the plate and quickly swallow. I don't have anything wash the flavor of alcoholic orange juice out of the mouth. So the flavor just sits there on my tongue and teeth. As the seconds go by, my head feels more and more fuzzy, the room starts to spin a little. Something doesn't smell quiet right, I can't pin point what it is though. The hair in the back of my neck starts to stand on end in anticipation of something. Again I can't tell what. I just want the taste out of my mouth. Seto's almost full coffee cup sits within arm's reach. I almost never drink coffee. My drinks are always filled with milk, sugar and some type of flavor. I could use the guise of wanting to try it. I did work at a cafe for a while. That did require drinking a lot of coffee. Maybe I'm interested what a 30 dollar cup of coffee tastes like. The room starts to spin a little more. I'm not hungry enough to be in of fear of fainting. Goosebumps form on my arms. I'm not cold or in fear. I swallow. That cascades the flavor over my tongue again. I force my gag reflex to relax. I can barely keep it down. It doesn't taste this bad.

"Want a taste? I assume you know something about coffee, you worked in a cafe." Seto almost insists. I slightly too quickly grab the cup and takes a too large sip of the nearly scalding cup of coffee. I feel the burn all the way down to my stomach, but it does what I want it. I only have the taste of good coffee in my mouth, a nice complex flavor with floral hints to it. I take a slightly smaller sip to actually taste the coffee. The more I taste it the more familiar it gets and then the reasons hits me. Its the same coffee as in the cafe. I give him a small smile. The goosebumps are gone, the spinning is gone and I feel like myself again. I go to place the coffee cup back when I hear a squeal that only a teenage girl can make. I should know, I know a few and related to another.

Sorry for the long update time! My computer decided that 5 years was enough for it and it didn't want to live anymore. Luckily I backed up everything, and another one is coming this week!


	41. Chapter 41

"Seto!" A girl squeals from the podium near the front. Seto's lips tighten into a line and he sits up a little straighter. I look at the source, a hot, blond, blue eyed female in an almost skin tight black dress holding a sparkling clutch. She looks a little older then Seto. If someone pressed me, I would say about 3 years older. Basically she's a 10 out of 10 for anyone that isn't Seto Kaiba. I would love to actually think that an overly thin, brown eyed, not all that attractive male would get him going, but I already know that isn't the case and it would be horrible idea anyway. Plus he has someone in mind, well according to Mai. Next to the blond female stands a tall, brown haired guy with a flat stomach and a suit. He looks a little like a magazine ad. The female's heels click on the floor towards us. Her smile gets bigger every step and her eyes become more and more focused on Seto. There is a sparkle in them almost as bad as her purse. She stops on the side of our table and faces Seto. Her but is almost right in my face. This again?

"Seto! I am going to love your new product, I just know it." She asks in a grating sort of sickly sweet. Is she for real? I place the coffee back on the saucer.

"Ms. Steal, I didn't know you picked up dueling. I thought shopping, and getting a manicure was more your style." He says in same way he replies with anyone else that isn't his little brother, Mr. Crump or me like they are wasting his time.

"Oh silly, you can call me Emma. Also you never took me here when we were dating, I'm a little offended now." she give him a pout, she shift her weight to the other foot and juts her hip out of little. I can't help myself but a raise an eyebrow at the silly bit. Silly? Also I think that's flirting. Ah, should I do something? Should I state my claim, as we say? Or watch the train wreck happen because it will if she's acting like that to him.

"I'm also regretting it a little more every second, _Emma._ You see, I want to impress, maybe sweep my partner off his feet a little. The issue I face is that my partner really isn't impressed by grand expensive gestures, I'm sure you can relate. You were always complaining at the price of my presents. I forgot this when I chose this restaurant. He is neither impressed nor sweep off his feet. So I regret to inform you that we will be leaving the second that I can get the check." I try to hide a grin, we're leaving! I get food that doesn't taste gross to me! I'm way too happy about this. She pouts a little.

"He isn't the person for you then. There isn't much to it really. Your expensive gifts are the way you show your love. You're the most complicated man I've ever met, but whenever a box showed up at my door step I knew you truly cared. I knew it was worth it and that you had a different side to you." Yes, one that really likes robots and orchids. The jury is still out about the complicated bit.

"I will let our relationship take its course. Until I'm faced with the issue that a pretty watch won't make up for the dinner I just missed or the promise I just broke. What will I do when someone will actually force me to keep my promises and can't be distracted by pretty bobbles and frayed apologies." He is giving me way too much credit if he thinks I won't fall for a frayed apology. The pretty bobble is optional.

"You'll see." She says smugly. She loops her finger in the handle of the cup, then takes a sip of coffee. He sighs.

"I was going to drink that." He says in slight disappointment. She clenches her jaw before walking away in a slight huff. A second later the waitress shows up with the next course. She almost drops the plates when Seto asks for the check. When the waitress asks if there is anything they could do his response was there is animosity between another patron. She gets our check pretty quickly after that. A little less then 750 dollars on a meal. He pays with a card, of course, it has a blue eyes white dragon in it.

We step out into the dusk, hand in hand. He grips my hand tightly. I like the slightly cool air on my face, but my arms are perfectly warm. We actually get street food from a place called the "Halal Guys". I am sort of shocked that Seto, first knows about this place and second would trust it to actually have food that he could eat. Then we get comfortable in a little traveled grassy area on one of the tributaries of the river that runs through the park. Our backs lean against some trees. How does Seto know this places even exists? Is he more of a ladies man then I thought? Again we are, for our purposes, alone. We kind of have to assume that we're always watched. What will people say tomorrow when they read about that great make out session? For a few minutes we just eat out of thin foil contains filled with mouthwateringly greasy, salty, slightly spicy meat. It is so vastly better then the french meal I didn't eat! I inhale another mouthful when Set asks, "Whoever loses our pool match will have to eat cockroach candies?". I swallow as quickly as I can muster.

"Sounds par for the course." I reply. I'm not about to back down from a harmless challenge from Seto and he is well aware of that fact. There is a somewhat uncomfortable pause between us. Seto seems almost like he actually wants to know why I'm good at pool. He can't care about why and I'm not about to tell him anyway.

"So, tell me about before you were adopted. You seemed to get along with your parents." I ask in an attempt to start a conversation and I want to know more. I want to complete my picture of him. He seems to hesitate for a few seconds. You've already broken your cold hearted CEO facade to me, entertaining me with childhood stories won't hurt.

"What like family traditions or cute stories? Or the thirty five full sized bookshelves we had in our house crammed full of books and with about ten more boxes in the attic waiting for bookshelves." Books, books and more books, I imagine that is pretty much what Seto did as a child.

"I'll take both, come on entertain me with stories of a very young you. It not really something that I can imagine easily. But stories on the bookshelves work too." I whine with a teasing smile.

"Both of my parents were graduate students for the first 5 years of my life, I used to call them Dr. Mom and Dr. Dad as a joke when they got their PhDs. Our furniture never matched and more then likely it was given to us by one of their friends when they moved out of town for a job. Both of them worked as adjunct professors of biology until I was 8. We were by no means rich or even that well off. I always got books for any gift giving holiday, that or clothing I probably needed anyway. Generally, I consider my early childhood really happy. My parents supported me at whatever I wanted to do. Well for the most part. They did reject my idea to make a Rube Goldberg machine to make their morning coffee." He says with a genuinely happy smile on his face. I laugh at his small complaining about the rejection. The person I'm talking to right now, a happy, relaxed Seto, is someone that I want to become closer to. I know he comes with the another side, damn it.

"Grad students, I'm not surprised. Go on, I'm listening." I say with food in my mouth.

"Every night right before bed after my homework was done, Mokuba was put to bed and was sleeping soundly, and my parents couldn't read another lab report written by a student, they would read to me. Unfortunately or fortunately, I still don't know, what they would read me was the research paper they had to read." I have to laugh at that. Sounds nice to have your parents assume you might understand something like that.

"Did you enjoy it? It couldn't have hurt your development." I ask.

"Well yes, it was quality time with my parents. I preferred the times we played chess, board games, card games and video games, but I couldn't really complain. Obviously both my parents really liked plants and kept gardens. My mom always cultivated strawberries. Just like clockwork, every year, we always had more then any three people could or would want to eat." Is it bad that I'm envious?

"Oh the horror, too many tasty fruits! What ever did you do?" I tease, I stuff rest of my food into my mouth and place the foil on the ground.

"Made strawberry rhubarb pie actually, sometimes we'd forget the rhubarb." He says and then places his empty container on the ground as well. Yum does that sound tasty even if my stomach is full to bursting.

"What a daring move!" I say. He straightens out his legs. If I'm daring I could take a seat, maybe a few steamy kisses. About as steamy as I can make them, so not much.

"I've bored you enough of my childhood, it wasn't that interesting. I kind of want to hear about your's." My breath seems to be caught in my throat, and a feeling of dread come over me.


	42. Chapter 42

"Nothing really to tell, I have a horrible memory. Most of my memories of my childhood are playing house or barbies with Serenity, there were a lot of G.I. Joe-barbies marriages. Also there was a lot of princess saves the day plot lines, and princess drops the guy to go to college." I say as I try to get out of the question but still sort of answer it. I see him smile at the plot lines.

"I'm glad she was playing feminist plot lines, and knew at a young age that she doesn't need a man to save her. Not that I doubted that she knew that." Our mother really didn't have much to do with that. I believe she is smart enough to always be self relent and financially secure enough to never need someone else to take care of her. Or do anything like what I'm doing right now. Dating for pay, literally. I snuggle up to Seto a little, hoping that he would get the message. Plus I like the soft cashmere against my face.

"I want to hear more. It's only fair." He wraps his arm around my back and nuzzles his nose in my hair. Back to desperately wishing this scene was real, I can't even dread that question. I close my eyes and put most of my weight on Seto.

"When Serenity was really small, like 2, she was scared of the dark and said there were monsters under her bed. Even after checking and rechecking, she rarely believed me and said that they were just the invisible kind. According to her, the monsters only ate small children and not big kids. They had purple horn with a little flower designs in blue and red, each horn was about 3 inches long. Well you can't really have that large of a horn on something that is only 12 inches high at the largest. According to her, they had long brown-blond fur with black leathery hands. They made two sounds, a sort of crash and a horrible ear piercing scream. So she refused to sleep without me in her bed and a stuffed animal named Uni. It was a unicorn if you couldn't tell. Then we have the many hours I spent making barbie clothing out of leaves, playing soup opera play-mobils, and coloring in pictures of Hello Kitty. If you care to know, crab grass is a little tough to be used as thread because leaves rip really easily and barbie will make a fashion faux-pa. And we just can't have that. Soup opera play-mobils, everyone was in love with everyone else and no could decide between anyone. Also if I ever have children, they will never use rose art crayons if I can help it. They really are vastly worse than Crayola, they barely color. There were many ripped Mimmy Kitties in my childhood. Slightly off topic, a kitty owning a kitty is really fucking weird. I'm just saying." He pulls me a little closer, protectively if I was letting my insane side have it's way. I nestle into his super soft sweater. I continue on.

"She had a massive amount of dress up clothing. One of her favorite dresses was this ornate bright red dress, it had embroidered tulips on it in blue and purple. It was pulled together on one side so that blue lace could show with a nice embroidered blue bow and purple underskirt with beadwork on the hem. The bodice had bead work as well, the tulip pattern was continued. Then we have the sleeves, a comparatively simple cap sleeve with a tiny bow on the clasps. The first day she got it she stained the skirt with orange juice. Our mom made it for her for her 2rd birthday. We used to play a lot of princess and knight save the day from the evil dragon. Normally the dragons were my cards when I got into duel monsters, baby dragon was the most common. Her reason was it was cutest dragon I had. I tried to teach her duel monsters when she was about 3. That didn't really go that well. We barely got through the first phase before I lost her attention. I retried when she was about 7, it went a little better." I hope he's happy with that. I wasn't lying when I said I don't really remember my childhood, it just draws a bit of blank before about 7. Even after that most of my memories are of Yugi, Tea, and Serenity. He kisses my hair a little protectively and pulls me a little closer. He smells amazing.

"Cute, and I have a feeling she would wear that dress even now. Mokuba and I played a lot boardgames, I even let him win a few times." It doesn't seem he'll want me to continue, woo!

"She would, she was in tears for a week when she grew out of it. Must've been hard to lose." I tease. A frog croaks a ways off. My entire body relaxes against him. He buries his nose in my hair.

"Puppy, your hair smells good." He says quietly I can barely hear. It takes every ounce of my self control to not lift my head a little and kiss those sweet, soft lips. He lightly kisses my hair again. What's wrong with a little pleasure? But how much will this hurt? What is my pain threshold? Higher than I want to admit. I open my eyes a little.

I straddle his legs with most of my weight on my knees, and my forearms on his shoulders. My heart accelerates rapidly. He tilts his head to look at me with a tiny, teasing smirk. Finally, I press our lips together in a very light kiss. Just from that tiny contact, every cell in my body lights up, every nerve sharpens, every sense goes on red alert. The seat of my pants slightly sticks to my but from the small amount of wetness from the grass, and the small numbness from the sitting on my wallet for so long. I want to be his. Fuck do I want to be his. I open my eyes slightly. His lips look even more enticing then before. I give him a smile, and I can see the slight mischief in his eyes, we're about to give any gossip magazine watching a very good show. But damn do I want this to be his bedroom right now, I want to hear him moan, and come undone because my hands, my tongue, my mouth, because of me. I reunite our lips again, soft, sweet, and addictive. I take another hit from my drug of choice that takes me to place of fantasy. My tolerance has gotten higher then I want to admit. A kiss won't do it any more. Our tongues embrace, I don't have the self control to tease him again. Can I afford this? I grasp his hair, and pull a little harder then I should. It doesn't really matter if I can or not, I'll take another hit no matter how detrimental it is to my health. The fantasy is just too good. I'm safe, fed, clothed, and absolutely loved by someone that I don't have to hide anything from, someone that I can be honest with. I didn't eat last night, I do really need that money, I didn't fall down the stairs, and yes I need to a place to stay. My life isn't in control. Someone that wouldn't ask why I didn't tell before, why I didn't ask for help until I went to the hospital.

I take a breath to recollect myself from my fantasy, this is just meaningless making out to him and I should see this as just pleasure. No emotions should go into this, no desire besides sexual should drive me foreword. But what is a little fantasy? It isn't going to hurt him and he couldn't care if it hurts me. It was my fault that I fell for him, it was my fault that I started to confuse reality with fantasy.

I let unhealthy fantasy drive me foreword. Within seconds of our lips meeting and our tongues dancing in a purely emotionless caress, my heart is almost begging me to stop, and my lungs burn from the lack of oxygen. He breaks the kiss to catch his breath, and let my heart relax for a few seconds. His breathless pants are just a reminder of what I can't do, I can't undo him, not here, more then likely not ever. When they get too much, when fantasy wants control back, we commence hungrily. The racing heart, the burning lungs, and now the slightly painful pressing in my crotch. Pleasure, whatever the reason, whatever the motivation, always gets the same outcome. Both hands massage my thighs, and with a little force behind it, pull me up against him. My fantasy tells me passion, the ever-shrinking reality tells me just pleasure. His hands massage my ass roughly, forcing me to rub against him, only making the pressing worse. This is fantasy. I pull at his hair, just wanting to mess it up a little, to remind myself that I can effect him somehow even in a non-consequential way. I breath in sharply, he's right against my inner thigh. He's hard and getting harder by the second right up against my inner thigh! I inwardly smile to my self, that you can't fake very easily.

I deepen the kiss. How desperate do I have to get to ask to continue this? Just how desperate do I really need to get? He lightly nibbles my lower lip, I have to swallow a moan. One of his hands goes to my hair, and pulls me towards him. I could even believe that he feels the same way, that he would want to continue this when we get back to his estate. That he actually wants me. That he wouldn't prefer me to have a perfect hourglass figure, perfectly curled hair, and be female.

I break the kiss as a last ditch effort to keep my sanity intact, I can't fucking fall for him. His pants still tease me, still laugh their cruel laugh at me. Laugh that I fell for the last person I should. Why can't I understand that he can only hurt me? He has too much power over me. I lay my head on his shoulder, relax my legs so most of my weight is on him, and inhale his absolutely intoxicating scent. His hand pets my hair. Damn it! How am I going to get through 2 more days of this?

"You're going to make the drive home slightly painful." He whispers in my ear. Yes the drive home will be slightly painful, I'm not even talking physically.

"Not that I can't say the same thing, and today was amazing, even dinner. I will need to thank you tonight." I reply. He raises an eyebrow at the last part.

"Agreed, I had a lot of fun. And sorry about dinner, Emma had a bit of a point, I do show affection through money, but tell me more. I want to know what I'm in for, in case supplies are needed." I let fantasy take over again, every porn I've ever seen comes front and center. The whips, chain, collars, sex toys, riding crops, floggers, handcuffs, if that is what he's into I'm down with it. I take my head off his shoulder and face him, I see amusement in his eyes and something I really can't place. I give him a smirk.

=) Hope you had fun.


	43. Chapter 43

"I have a few ideas. Most of them involving handcuffs, leather, a lack of latex, or maybe even nylon, in a long, thick strip with a bit of plastic. But I want to hear your input. You showed me an amazing day, the least I can do give you is a fantasy." He actually smiles at my response.

"You're my puppy, and you do need a collar. I would prefer something a little fancier then nylon, but it is the classic. But go on, we already need to go to the pet shop or I should say, at the very least." I can't tell if he is serious about that. It doesn't really matter to me.

"Let's see, where to start. After a very painful car ride home, we get your bedroom but barely. Damn it Seto, its barely been 7 hours and I'm already ready to beg. You pin me to door with almost animalistic look in your eye. Your lips dominate mine and your hand pulls me towards you, but your hair is soft in my hands. You start to kiss me, just like this afternoon, I can taste your desire and passion but also your care. I'm your puppy, puppies need to be trained. They need to taught how to behave, but more importantly what pleases you.

"You break the kiss and whisper "Let's let training commence. Off, everything." in my ear so close that I feel your hot breath on my ear. You take a step back. Of course I can't barely think by this point, I'm practically panting already, so I just do. You examine my every movement and as each piece of clothing hits the ground your smirks gets bigger. My sweater, my shirt, my pants, my socks, and lastly my boxers land on the floor around me. You see all the marks you made this afternoon, a few from Tuesday, and even one or two from Saturday. You reach into your pocket and out comes a thick blue nylon collar with a plastic buckle with a tags shaped like a bone with "Joey, return to Seto Kaiba if lost" engraved in steel. You wrap it around my neck. I like the weight, the almost greasy feel of the nylon on my neck. It reminds me that I'm yours, that you'll be there for me if I ever need something and hopefully I can do that same. Out of the other pocket comes a long blue nylon leash, you clip it on the loop and pull me towards the bed." He pulls my hair slightly.

"You tie my leash to one of the bed posts, not that I'd run away anyway, as I climb on the bed. I'm actually panting by this point, I want you. I want your clothing on the floor, I want your tongue, hands, body on mine and both of us know that I'll do pretty much anything to get it. I don't think I was bad today, but once glance in your eye tells me that I've been very good today.

"Finally, I get part of what I want, your sweater, shirt, pants, socks, and boxers finally hit the floor. The toned arms, 6 pack abs, the few marks that I made this afternoon, I pull slightly on my leash around my neck. 'Ever so eager, I may have to calm you down a little so I don't hurt you. I thought that this afternoon would at least make a dent, but I seemed to have forgotten..."

Our lips met again in a frantic frenzied foxtrot, the familiar burning in my lungs and rapidly beating heart. I've given up by this point not getting lost his kiss, his dominating, at points, rough, kiss. Not that I can really control much or really want to, his hand holds my head where he wants it. I don't fight my desire to believe that he could feel the same way about me, that this kisses isn't just emotionless pleasure and he didn't just shut me up. He pulls me closer like he really does want me, specifically me, that the only reason I have my shirt or pants on is because we're in public. One hand clutches my sweater. It slightly digs into my back. He breaks the kiss for air.

"Damn it, Puppy. I don't think I can put into words how much I enjoy being yours and I do hope that I can be there if you need me." he says through pants, and I could almost believe those words. But that might be my insane fantasy talking, because those are exact words I want to hear. I just respond with commencing the kiss. I can't string two words together right now, forgot about a sentence. I feel tipsy, my head is fuzzy and slightly dizzy, and my body heats up, but mostly euphoric like I have some control over my life. He lets go of my sweater, his nails stop digging in my back, and he unzips my hoodie. The cool breeze just tears through my thin cotton shirt cooling down slightly my almost burning skin. I feel exposed somehow.

His lips leave mine and they kiss ever so gently my neck moving toward my collar. They're almost unbearably soft and gentle, their pleasure courses through my veins. They're such a shift from the frenzied kisses from before, that it just makes my hyper sensitivity worse. Then I realize just how ragged my breathing is, I can't hide at all how much I'm attracted to him. I shouldn't fool myself to think I can, my only hope is that he won't insult me to badly for falling for a person that doesn't fucking exist. I'm almost shaking in pleasure.

A bite on the skin right above my collar bone makes me jump, slightly painful but somehow it registers as pleasure. I breath in sharply, and whimper. The gentle kisses are back. Then a cold hand slithers up my shirt, and dread washes over me to the point I can't gain any delight from the kisses on my neck. No, even I won't let my fantasy take over that much. I'm well aware of the fact that my chest and back are covered in scars, not something I really want to be well known. I place my hand on the intruder, luckily he gets the message. Yet I was fine with forgetting to put on a shirt this afternoon, logic I make none. For some reason, I'm pretty confident that Seto won't tell, or he just doesn't care enough to really pay mind to it. He gives me a peck on the lips.

"I think it's about time we left, mostly because of public indecency laws. There is a pet store about 2 blocks away. A cafe next door has very good coffee, if you're wondering why I know that." That is very Seto reason to know something. I give his hair one last run through with my fingers, before climbing off of him. Just like last time, he watches every movement I make, but this time I'm well aware of what I just did and he enjoyed it as well.

"Have you ever thought you might be addicted to coffee?" I tease as I get brush grass of my pants and grab our garbage.

"By this point it's just knowledge, not a thought." He says like normal, brushing off his pants as well. I grab his hand and we begin a joke probably taken way too far.

The pet store is a tiny store with cute cartoon dogs as the logo, and a white and black cat sitting in the window asleep. The shop itself is mostly pink, even the name is in pink, Scoop Dog. At least it is not a badly named ice cream shop. We go in the tiny store that has a grand total of four isles just covered in everything I need for the pet I don't own. The cat rubs my leg and I bend down to pet it. Cute animals also make me smile, mostly because I rarely get to touch one. It's coat shines and it's fur is unusually soft. Soft purs start, I get my knees to continue.

"Should we get a cat as well? As long it doesn't think my keyboard is a good napping place, I wouldn't mind." He says like he's completely serious about getting a pet. I wouldn't mind a pet, I would get a cat. Dogs are vastly too much work.

"I'm good, lets get used to one real pet before we get another." I can't say that he doesn't own pets, they're just made of metal and in the shape of dragon. I give it one last pet before following Seto to the isle with collars, all of them hanging on pegs in a plethora of colors and material. I spot a few made of leather and a few with in a glass case, upwards of 250 for a collars for your pet. I grab a thick blue nylon collar with a metal buckle, and Seto grabs a red leash. Our eyes meet, his still hold amusement at my escalating this charade to this point. The smooth almost greasy nylon in my hand, is it bad that I actually would do what I said? Yes, I can answer my own question, yes it would. Not because of the act, more what it would entail that I had already done. Let fantasy get the better of me, and put myself in a position that I have no control. Even after this agreement, Seto could decide that he really didn't want to pay anymore and I will more then likely never have the money to fight that.

We get a tag engraved with the message in the shape a bone and then Seto pays without any indication of what we're actually doing with it, nothing. We get a tiny brown bag and go get his car from the restaurant that we sort of walked out on. Right before he lets go of my hand to go get in the drivers seat, I steal one more kiss, one more soft, gentle kiss that tastes vaguely of coffee still. I have no idea what he's going to say once I get in that car and, he doesn't have to go along with my antics.

I get in and get comfortable in the leather interior, before turning to him and waiting for a response. I don't have to wait long.

"Hm, I can't exactly say that I'm not a little surprised. If anyone over heard that conversation, tomorrow's gossip magazines will be very interesting as much as people will speculate anyway why we went into a pet store. So, did I just give you the first part of your halloween costume for next year or is it going to be a daily occurrence." I can't tell if he is serious again? If I do say it is a daily occurrence, while it can be written off as sarcasm like always, it's is a little too close to the truth. I can't tell him to shut up because I just don't do that, I don't call him out on his sarcasm.

"I'm going into a goth emo phase after this week, I hear dog collars are really stylish. I have really feel our break up on Sunday." I say sarcasm thick in my voice, and hope that nothing shows.

"I bet the old ladies that live next to you would really appreciate it, but you do have a point at the break up. Our agreement ends Sunday." It will be a relief to not be paid to make out with Seto.

"It will be a little weird, and not to mention little suspicious, for a big gossip topic to leave right after a product comes out." His point? Does he want to continue? That should be a no, that really should be but I know very well if he asked right now that I might say yes.

"And? Do you want to continue? That isn't really my problem, I don't have a public presence to care about." I ask way too defensively.

"You do know that you didn't outrightly say no." He teases ever so sickly. My stomach drops, into a cage with a soviet rationed tiger. A shriver goes down my spine. Every word echoes in my ear about as pleasantly as finding spoiled milk in my fridge. My palm sweat like the fucking rain forest.

"I thought it was obvious what my answer would be, why waste the breath?" Then a sick thought pops into my head, he could pull everything out from under me because I didn't do what he wanted.

"So I'm assuming yes then, you agreed to this one so readily." He says a little too seriously for him to be completely joking. My fists clench but quickly I realize that I can't, I can't tell him to go fuck himself. I have to take that comment. That is the person that I actually fell for, someone that would say _that_. Someone that has the capability to insult me in the exact way that will effect me the most and will. Someone that will make me do exactly what he wants with no regard for my feelings.

The sad truth is I am his, and will be until I can get a decent job. I won't bite the hands that feed me. Even having someone have that much control over me, it's better then my father. At the very least, I will be fed, clothed, Seto will never lay a hand on me, and I will be safe from anyone that isn't Seto.

I bite my tongue and refuse to answer him, I don't even trust myself to look at him for fear of showing just how much that hurt. How does he do it? How does he seem so genuine when out in public? I could even believe that he feels something resembling mutual feelings. I feel trapped.

Hope you liked it!


	44. Chapter 44

We get back to the house, and I half expect to be greeted by Mokuba. The Butler comes out to park Seto's car and only says that Mokaba is in the game room. I silently agree to postpone our game of pool, to go tell Mokuba that we didn't kill each other. Yes, I fully intend to go through with our game of pool. It would be even more suspicious if I back out.

We open the door to laughing and a 2d representation of Serenity, they're video chatting. Her hair has been done in a complicated up-do, her face perfectly made up. A white wall is her background. She hasn't been out of the house in about 4 days. A massive smile break out on her face.

"Joey! I'm so glad that Mom is out of the house right now. Hi Seto!" She exclaims. I take a seat next to Mokuba.

"Hopefully she'll let up soon, come on I'm not in the news for anything bad. Oh no, a guy that is successful and runs his own company fell for my son! Oh the horror. That aside. It's nice to see your face and talk to you, even if you're missing one dimension. But really, how bad is it?" I ask in all seriousness. Its really unfair to ground Serenity just because me.

"In all honesty, Marshall law has nothing on this house. Phone, computer were confiscated. My door has been taken off. No friends over, I can barely leave the house without her! The reason she gave was that my grades for last quarter. I didn't know that an 89 in gym was worth grounding over. She's always been strict and little unfair but it's never been this bad. Also I'm pretty sure my room gets ransacked everyday, under the guise of cleaning. It's been a hellish break so far. So far Mom doesn't know about this computer, yes, this computer. I'm lucky to have anything. But I think Mokuba and Seto's collection of old but still working computers might run out before she lets up. But if you must know, the worse are the rants. Of course I speak up, but even so, I hate it when Mom talks about you in such a negative light. I have no idea what to do. I can't stand it much longer having Mom talk about you in such a first negative light and second, untrue. Sorry for the rant." My smiles wipes from my face and her recount of her home life. That's not something I can do anything about, even if it is my fault.

"How did the date go?" She asks cheerfully.

"You're always welcome, I have at least one extra bedroom and a mixer that doesn't get used very much. If you need money, please ask. I have no idea how to spend 1000 dollars a month." I get a smile from her and a lot of emotions from today seem a little better by the fact that I can actually say with honesty. There is no lying this time, no smoke screen, no hiding. I can give her the money for bus fare...without, a lot. Desperation for something good will make me do a lot.

"Thanks, and its not your fault, so stop feeling guilty." She orders. "Hopefully cookie making can happen pretty soon. Mom is just in a funk right now. But you nor Seto answered my question, come on I don't want to have to read about my own brother's life from magazines and then have to guess what is true. You didn't kill each other, so that is good. You're within 5 feet from the other, also good." Damn it, I might not have to hide my money issues instead some of my emotions will be hidden.

"It went about as well as I expected it would. I would even say I enjoyed it on a good day. Rock climbing was fun, lunch was tasty, even orchids weren't all that bad. Dinner was a little rocky since Seto's ex showed and sort of blatantly flirted. But the latte was almost worth it. Correct me on anything?" I ask towards Seto. Serenity's laughs a little at my recollection.

"Seems accurate, I could have done without Emma but even that didn't ruin a pretty fun day." He says. He really has very little reason to lie here, he must have actually enjoyed it. A few butterflies start flying in my stomach, whose wings get torn off and lay there dying by reality. He is a teenage male, sorry but most teenagers will consider a date pretty good if it involves a lot of kissing. As a teenage male, that amount of stimulation will get a reaction especially one that just had a massive drop off of his sex life. From what sounds like pretty frequently to none, from what I know at least. So the fact that I have gotten him hard is really no indicator that he finds me even half decent looking, the fact that he is willing to kiss me more then likely indicates he doesn't find me repulsive though.

"I'm glad both of you had a good time, and Seto stopped working for more than a 6 hour stretch to shower and sleep. An early death isn't preferable you know." She says, almost scolding Seto for his workaholic tendencies.

"This launch must be a pain in the ass, you've never been this bad during launches. Normally, your day is pushed by an hour both ways, not 3 each way it seems." Mokuba complains a little. He has a massive point; I just monopolized Seto time. Seto can't really have time for today, and by my time here, Mokuba seems to rarely see his brother. Yet he's getting mad at his brother, not the cause, me.

"I know I shouldn't complain and this is temporary, but come on, even for you this is getting ridiculous." Mokuba adds. Seto's eyes are downcast, and shoulders are slightly slumped.

"Mokuba, after launch I'll have time. I'll let you come to Hollywood for my next business trip, and if Marshal law is lifted, Serenity can come. Yes you can go to Disneyland without adult super vision." He says I would even says almost desperately. Mokuba smiles. I didn't even know that Serenity had a passport. Serenity looks a little shocked, but smiles as well. Even Seto Kaiba can be persuaded with guilt.

"Yes! No body guards! Thanks, and sorry." He hugs his brother, and I spot a small spot relieved smile on Seto's lips. I can't help myself but find it cute. Seto has the capacity to care about someone.

"If marshal law is lifted I would hope that I can see you before jet setting to Mickey Mouse. Promise?" I can't compete against Disneyland, as much as, Kaibaland is actually a better theme park then Disney if I want to ride a fucking shit ton of roller coasters. Plus how much trouble can she really get into? Then a sound that sound like a door from Serenity's side of the screen.

"Crap! That must be Mom, and yes I promise. Bye, and Joey, you really are an amazing brother. You've always been there and always had my best interests at heart." I get a massive smile on my face at her comment, I'm glad that I can do at least one thing right. It's made a few things better. I have at least one person that thinks highly of me. Then we hear on the other screen, "Is that your deadbeat brother? Why do you even want to talk to him? Its not he's been a great brother to you. He can't interest you, all he can think about is that stupid game." Serenity's eyebrow come to together and her mouth drops a little. She places the computer on her bed facing the wall, but conveniently her hand mirror makes it so that we can see my mother. She hasn't really changed since I last her, a little over weight, a butch hair cut, jeans and t-shirt that I know are designer but a little ill fitting. Then Serenity gets off the bed and goes to over our mother. A loose fitting hoodie with cute a pair of white wings embroidered into the back of it, a lace skirt that hit right above her knees with knee socks with pompoms on the calves. Her fists clench.

"Mom, first he can hear you. Second, you know very well my stance on negative statements about Joey. But you don't seem to understand my side. You are objectively wrong, and I find it disgusting, to but it lightly, how you think about him. But all I ask is that you don't say those around me." She pleas at our mother.

"I'm just saying like it is, he's lucky that he hasn't gotten anyone pregnant. How he ever fooled someone to date him is another question entirely different, I really feel sorry for his boyfriend that has to deal with that. He'll end up like his father no matter. Don't talk to me like that as well young lady, I've already told you that I am your mother and I can say whatever I want about my son."

"Do you want to ask what his boyfriend sees in him? A fucking shit ton if I recall correctly." She says in sheer anger and sarcasm fit to come out of the mouth of me or Seto, not my sister. Our mother gasps.

"Language. I don't want to hear those word come out of your mouth. Yes, to talk some sense into him." She spins the computer towards our mother, and glance over to Seto, waiting for him to play along. Why Serenity? This will only hurt me. I will want so desperately for what is about to come out Seto's mouth to be true, to be what he actually thinks.

"You must be the person that he calls 'Mom', out of formality I assume. Your son, he has no idea how to use a knife and fork the correct way, I'm lucky if his pants only have four or five stains on them and only two holes in them, he has no idea how graciously take a gift, and utter oblivious about almost everything that isn't how he is ever going to pay rent. Manners can be taught, pants can be bought, and rent can be paid, what can't be is his ability put his friends before himself and his astounding ability to put his feelings aside when someone else seems to need support. No matter what he is going through, no matter how much he is the one that actually needs help. That is reason I fell for him, his almost unending selflessness towards to his friends." I do? That seems like a strange answer that question, of answers to give though. He does have a point, my table manners really suck, and I buy pants only when I really need to. But selfless? I wouldn't really consider what I do for my friends anything unusual. I'm a friend, supporting them is part of that.

"I later learned that there was more to him then that, his wit, his humor, his levelheadedness when it really matters, his optimism. I can't lie, I don't mind the cute face." He is great that question and he almost sounds sincere. But it hurts about what I thought it would, a fucking shit ton. I want to have him think that about me. Even if I disagree about most of them, it would be nice to hear. My mother sneers at him.

"You'll get bored of him pretty soon and realize that he is pretending." I see Serenity's mouth slightly drop. "I just can't listen this bullshit anymore, and Serenity, I already told you no computer for a month. I'm going to sell this one to teach you a lesson." Our mother says. Serenity is still starring at our mother in sheer bewilderment. Our mother can't know that what Seto just said was a lie and she just told him that he doesn't know what he wants.

"Is it really this hard for you too see that Joey isn't Dad? " Serenity asks in all sincerity at barely above a whisper. Her eyes fill with frustration and sadness.

"Of course I know they're two different people. Your father had potential and then drank it all away." Serenity's eyes go wide, her hands clench.

"Mokuba, I think I'll take you up on your offer now." She says still looking at our mother, anger, frustration, sadness all in her eyes but her voice gives none of it. Um, what offer? I glance at Mokuba, who is beaming.

"Roger that!" Mokuba says happily. Serenity holds our mother's gaze for a second longer before grabbing her wallet from her desk and a pair of shoes.

"Bye, see you soon." She says with a small smile. Then slams the laptop's lid down, and the screen goes black. I look at Mokuba confused, Seto doesn't seem to be affected by the events.

"She'll be here in 8 hours, give or take traffic. I've always offered her a ride if she ever wanted to come to visit or when she was fighting with your mother." Mokuba says extremely excited with a massive smile on his face. My mouth drops, and I get a massive smile on my face. I get to see Serenity! I would have preferred it to be under better circumstances, but I'm not about to complain too much. The fact that I will be able to see her for the first time in way too long, makes me beyond happy. It also makes a lot things vastly better, my massive crush on a psychopath, the fact that psychopath has almost complete control of my life and can do what he wants. Mokuba bounds of the top of coach. "Bye Seto, bye Joey, have fun. More then likely see you in the morning.", he says right before running out the door. Seto turns off the TV and gets off the couch. Then he turns to me.

"We have time for a least one game of pool before morning." He says more apathetically then usual, and his eyes have changed since coming home. If I didn't know better, I would even say anger is in them. At who, I can't really guess. I doubt he would want to play with pool with me if he was pissed off at me. For what I couldn't tell even if you pressed me, I did exactly what he asked of me.

"Lead the way, I've never seen a pool table in your house." I say as I get off the coach. I follow him down the hall, but wonder if he would want to continue what we're doing in the park. He has a crush on someone, but only an insane person would get mad at someone for making out with someone before they're dating. I have to wonder who he would ever crush on. For some reason I'm imagining a large age difference, maybe a PhD or two. Someone he can talk for hours about some technical problem over coffee and a romantic date would be gardening.

=) Hopefully that was a little more cheerful then last chapter.


	45. Chapter 45

We walk into a room at the end of the hallway, the lights turn on automatically, and the door closes behind us. One wall is covered in leather bound book on a dark bookshelf. Two walls have large windows looking over the well tended garden. A few chair, side tables and couches dot the perimeter of the room. A few side tables have vases of flowers, each of them black or green. I smile, they really are beautiful. Finally in the middle sits an extremely well taken care of pool table, it looks barely played on, with green felt and a set of balls pre-set-up. Lets play.

I spot the cue sticks on a wall and watch as Seto just grabs a cue stick. Then incorrectly chalks it. He does what everyone does. The turning action chalking I see all my friends do. It is a sure fire way of telling if someone knows anything about pool or billiards. Seto just bet me while knowing very little about the game, this could be interesting. Why he would do that is beyond me. Or he is trying to pretend he doesn't know anything. Which makes just as much sense as the alternative. I grab a cue stick as well, assuming that all of them are about as good and not wanting to completely call him out on it.

"I'll break, I would prefer this game to be more then one hit." Seto declares. I stand back and take the plastic triangle off the balls. He leans over the table, and lines up a shot. I hide a smirk for two reasons. One, its the latter he really has no idea what he's doing and second, this will give me amble time to have a little eye candy. My crush will hurt me and I shouldn't, but I do enjoy the time I do have to fantasize a little. His long legs, thin frame, and handsome face, I look at all of them. Then his but is up the air as he attempts to pretend to know anything about he game he's playing. His bridge is, not shockingly, sloppy and incorrect. He hits and it hits the balls with a decent power, but it was a straight shot, and no balls go in. Solids? Sure.

He sits down on one of the coaches. I line my shot up, and then bend over the table to take it. I pull back, hit the edge and then hit both balls I wanted. There is two delightful thuds as both go in just like I wanted. I hit two more balls in before I miss a shot.

I take a seat on the overstuffed couch that Seto just left to take his shot. He still doesn't know anything, his bridge is again sloppy.

"I find it really sweet that you are trying to finish your parents work." I say, trying to make conversation and in honesty I really do find it really sweet. He hits the ball, but misses the pocket.

"Not quite as sweet as you might think... it's a lot about sticking it to Gozaburo." He says taking a seat on the couch next to me. I get off and set up my shot.

"What did he like know who your parents were or something? Why would he even care?" I ask hitting the ball into the slot.

"The simple answer is yes, he took upon himself to figure that out. There is a difference between caring and just having something to taunt a 9 year old with. He used to say that they were foolish and wasted their mercifully short lives on something that could never happen. Even went so far as to say that it was good that they were dead, I would have wasted my life on plants." He says with more and more disgust as the words go by. How could someone do that? Tell a 9 year old that it was a good thing that his parents just died. My shot goes in.

"But instead you're wasting your life on games. While making more liquid capital then the US government on the way and making a lot people's lives better on a daily basis. I mean, I prefer dueling with holograms." I hope he doesn't take offense, or take that I actually think he's wasting his life. His company, what he made in 5 short years, revolutionized almost everything. He made holograms economical, and that has touched every industry from the gaming industry to construction. Yet he doesn't seem to hear anything I just said, he kind of staring at one point about three feet in front him.

"He laughed at my holographic technology prototype when he found my plans and said it wouldn't never sell. It would be too expensive, it wasn't practical, don't embarrass yourself with fantasies like this. If people with PhDs can't figure this out, a 10 year old brat can't do it. That I would become a failure every fucking day." He smirks his characteristic smirk. "Yet Kaiba Corp is doing better than it ever did under him." He says with pleasure, bordering on euphoria. Rightfully so. Kaiba Corp is one of the most valued companies in the world, beating out apple. I want to tell him that he is amazing, intelligent, a lot of other things. Like he doesn't already know, he can turn almost any corner and see some indicator of his company, his tech. People using his phones, his duel disks, his holograms. How someone could call Seto a failure is also beyond me. Failure involves failing at something, and he has yet to do that. I take my shot, but miss. Then I ask something I have no business asking in any dimension.

"Is that how you got those scars, Gozaburo?" He jumps at my voice, and looks at me like he didn't remember I was here. He hesitates for a second to long.

"Sorry you don't have to answer. I don't have any business asking that, that was really an inappropriate question." I say quickly. He takes a breath.

"If you actually want to know, yes. Why, is probably your next question. I'm not a computer, I'm not perfect, my first answer sometimes isn't the best and that wasn't good enough. I have to debug, I have to go back to throw away ideas because they don't work. I had to be perfect, I always had to be one step ahead of him, I always had to surpass expectations unless I was a failure in his eyes. When I was 13, he threatened Mokuba for my imperfections. He never could go through with his threat, a gun misfired. The shrapnel caused too much damage for him to be saved." I still can't even start to get my head around why anyone would think that Seto is a failure. Logically I know Gozaburo was a psychopath. But why is he telling me this? Why is he telling me something I doubt he's ever told anyone else? It isn't my place to pry on the whys, it isn't even my place to pry what the story behind those scars is. I'm, I don't quite know if this is the right word, complimented, I guess, that he would even tell me. Yami has told stories from his childhood, a few had Seto in them. Most of them were about how Seto was awkward is a social situation and acting way too grown up for an 11 year old. My understanding was that they weren't close exactly, but they had at least a few things in common to talk about.

Then I ask a question that even as I say it I want to grab the words and put them back in my mouth.

"What did he use for punishment?" That was just inappropriate, wow. Just wow. But to my astonishment, Seto smiles at that comment. I see, Seto has a very sick sense of humor.

"He preferred a Gucci belt made of leather with a silver buckle. Which he never actually wore, the entire purpose of that belt was disciplining me. What can I say, I was disciplined in a very classy way." He says with a smile on his face and small twinkle in his eye. I can't help but laugh a little at the entire situation. At just how sick, and twisted this is, and just how grateful I am that he found it funny. He sets up for shot.

"Not that I can't ask the same questions. Some of the scars on your chest were vastly too old for weeks and you're horrible liar." He takes a shot, misses. I abruptly stop laughing, and hesitate for a few seconds. I, for some, reason feel comfortable answering that, gut feeling maybe. Or maybe fantasy is getting the best of me, that I want desperately to be honest for once. What can he really do with the information? Tell someone, tell Serenity, tell Yugi, tell Yami. Which will lead to a question I desperately don't want to hear, 'Why didn't you ask for help? We were here.'.

"I won't tell anyone. It is purely personal curiosity. As it is, whomever shouldn't effect you anymore." He assures me and takes a seat next to me. How did he know that was what was holding me back?

"That is pretty classy, I especially like the uni purpose aspect to it. Makes you feel really special. It is almost the same story. I wasn't perfect. I wasn't top of my class, I wasn't the most athletic, I was pretty good at a stupid card game. Even so, my best friend is still better than me. My parents never cared about the technicalities of that, they never cared that Yugi is number one in the world. I just wasn't as good as he was. I was never good enough for them. Everything was because I did something wrong, I wasn't nice enough to my father, I grew out of those pants so Serenity couldn't have another barbie, I didn't behave well enough at school, my friends weren't rich enough. By this point, I can barely remember most of the reasons. That's the oldest ones and normally with a leather belt as well. The slightly newer ones were normally about money, why we never had rent money, why we never had money for food. A sick thing about it is that the answer was being thrown at me, he just drank it away. I'm pretty sure I also have one from one of the many underage drug addicted girls my father brought home to fuck as well." I watch him carefully through the entire response. His expression doesn't change until I get to the comment about the woman, that one he seems genuinely shocked. He tries to hide it, but an eyebrow twitch gives him away. But it left just as quickly as it came, and soon the smile on his lips and twinkle are back.

"Sometimes he would forgo the belt all together. If I underperformed badly enough, he wouldn't let me eat, followed by keeping me from seeing Mokuba. Who would be distracted by fun toys and games, he would use the fact that a 6 year old can be easily distracted against me. Told me that Mokuba wouldn't want a brother that was a failure, told me that I didn't deserve a brother like Mokuba." Seto is one upping me for abuse? Well, I'm glad I know that my infatuation is just a little insane now rather then later. I'm also glad nothing has changed, we'll compete over everything.

"If I was worse then usual, or I performed worse, I would have to apologize to Serenity for being a bad brother to her. There were nights that I was considered not worth feeding, that I was a waste of resources. Used to tell me only good children got food, new clothing, regretted not aborting me. Serenity would be distracted by cake, ice cream, toys, friends so she wouldn't notice anything was weird. Even when they divorced, my mother wouldn't let me see Serenity if I wasn't getting perfect grades. Which was never, but Serenity's whining enough could wear on anyone." He smiles at the last sentence.

"You see Joey, Gorabuzo didn't make meeting expectations easy by any means. We have the minor issues, giving me decaf coffee instead of normal, and over spiced or bad food. The slightly more annoying, broken fan on the computer so I could only use for 10 minutes at a time, downgraded RAM, no ink in any of my pens. Or the most annoying, lashing me hard enough to draw blood and then letting me see Mokuba. But having to lie why you're wincing at his every touch because he can't know, you're back in the orphanage if he knows. He's taken care of here and you'd be selfish to take this life away from him." Damn it, that is really psyco. I have no idea how I'll beat that. A competition is a completion no matter how sick it is.

"They didn't need to give me a reason not to tell anyone, they were my parents. They did refused to buy me new school supplies every year, I often stole Serenity's pink pencils. If they saw me with one, they would tell me that I shouldn't steal from my little sister and I knew dinner would at the most very sparse. They kept me up pretty often. Often the night before a big test, after screaming at me for most of the night so I couldn't study and more then likely I would be nursing a wound or two, they would keep me up. It was almost always the same way too. Serenity would already be asleep and you can't wake her if she's gone to sleep. First they would scream at each other, blaming the other for whatever went wrong with me. Then normally a thud against the wall, a female whimper, maybe a few tears of clothing, and finally moans escalating to screams. The day after any visible bruises were my fault and the reason I was so tired was because I intentionally stayed up. Before you ask, yes I knew what was going on."

Is he the spoiled rich kid that I thought he was, no. But I knew that the minute I saw his chest, a spoiled rich kid that has always had everything hand fed to him doesn't go around with a massive scars on his chest. The kind that the scar tissue slightly raised and hairless. He worked for everything he has, his life wasn't easy by any means and I'm glad that it worked out. I wouldn't wish what happened to him to my, ironically, worse enemy. I want to tell him in my eyes he is amazing, what he's done is amazing. I want to cuddle up to him and just tell that I'll be there. But what the fuck can I do for him? Nothing, he has life worked out. Top of his field before he's done with high school, and there doesn't look like a competitor can hold a candle to what Kaiba Corp is doing. I have nothing to add to that. He has a crush, I'm not about to impend on that. I mean, why would I?

This by no means excuses him from what he has done, abuse doesn't excuse praying on someone in almost the exact same position without the luck, or talent. In fact, it makes everything worse. But I think I've already established that my crush is unhealthy, childish, and hormone driven, ok, and maybe a little desperate. He's attractive, and we get along pretty well, so sue me. His shoulder looks super comfortable right now but I have a feeling that it would only end badly. Mostly making out with someone that can't possibly feel the same way, enjoying my company enough to get a good performance and liking making out with me are very different things. I smell the roses from here, sugar, cinnamon. I pull my legs to my chest, hug my knees, and lay my head on my arms. The next couple weeks, probably more, trying to get over Seto will be not be fun at all. I'll be surrounded by the reason I fell for him in the first place, my heart will pound whenever he's in the room, I'll spend a disproportionate among time fantasizing about him, I'll won't be able to concentrate in class. I should say worst then normal. I pull my knees to my chest, close my eyes, and just listen his steady breathing.

"I'm actually pretty sure you win this one, purely on the length of time it spanned. Or spanning might be the better word for it." He says. Oh yeah, he heard the way my mother talks about me. It doesn't even phase me anymore the way she says things so bluntly.

"Oh yeah, spanning. If you must know, your expectations get so low that you're happy when there is food, clothing and a warm bed." I say in monotone. I stop myself from saying any more, the next line would have been 'that you'll pretty much do anything to keep it that way.' I think I'm done with over sharing now.

"If you must know, you hide it as well as you lie. Horribly." I turn my head to look at him for an explanation. So this wasn't news by any means, how was I so easy to spot? Why did he ask anyway? He leans against his hand, resting against the armrest of the couch.

=) Had fun I bet.


	46. Chapter 46

"I was more shocked that you would forget to put a shirt on than what I found this morning. While I didn't know the details, you stick out. Most people are going to look at your lack of money, your bad grades, your constant need for a job, your tough attitude and hair trigger temper for the most part separately. Most indicators can be written off as something else, something innocent. Your father never kept a job, it makes sense you have trouble with money. You work to help out, but you work for close to minimum wage, of course money is constantly an issue. The fact that you're always hungry can be written off as being a teenager, the fact you never gain any weight but all anyone sees you do is eat twice everyone else, can be written off as being a teenager. The fact that you're tired all the time, you're a teenager and you work all the time. Your grades are bad, you never seem to do your homework, you're lazy. He's from a poor family, no shock there. Most people will look at these things and just written them off, just figure that is how it's always been. They assume that you're the person your mother seems to think you are, a waste of space, lazy, dead beat idiot. That wasn't what gave you away to me though, it wasn't because of the food, the clothing, the bad grades, it was because you weren't competing along side everyone else the day I met you. That day in the green room you and Yugi dueled in the corner on a standard laminated mat, more then likely you don't remember this because it was such a common occurrence for you. I heard Yugi and you laugh, smile, tease each other at the move the other was making. I even timed the duel, you lasted longer than anyone that wasn't Yami or I. He was the one that asked and he seemed excited at dueling you. Which means you didn't bore him, he wasn't dueling you out of pity or duty, it was fun for him as well. This lead me to the only conclusion that made any sense, you were a duelist of same caliber as everyone around you but you weren't competing. That could because of two things, one you hated people looking at you. That one I wrote off very quickly. Two, someone or something had stopped you. It really didn't take long to figure who, your shirt had two holes in it and it was very obviously old. What also stood out was that you seemed fine with everything, that it just seemed natural to you that you weren't in the tournament as well. That is what got me about you, you would defend yourself against my insults but not against what had been established already. Yugi was the duelist, you were the side kick. No I am not criticizing Yugi by any means, he is too close to even think about it. It is just status quo for him. Nor am I Yami, he would never thought about it either. He would assume that you would say anything if you needed help, wanted helped." I just listen to him tear apart anything I can deny, if I wanted to and just how easy it was to see if you thought about for a second. I look away to bury my face in my arms. My stomach heats up, shame. I can't think of any way to respond, I can't deny anything, and by staying silent I agree to what he just said. But it is strange to just have it laid out so nicely, so cleanly like that. I feel a little numb right now.

"If I knew, then why didn't I intervene or tell someone." He sighs. That wasn't a question I had actually, he had better things to do than save me from my father or myself. He doesn't even really care about me, so no. There is a difference between knowing something is wrong and having the mind to do something about it. Plus I obviously would not have taken his help even if he offered it unless I was back into a corner.

"I think we both know that you wouldn't have stayed where you were put, you wouldn't have taken the help even I offered it. Out of stubbornness, pride or a bunch of other shit, you would consider it a failure if you couldn't handle it. Because I couldn't be sure that you would listen to reason, I didn't want to make anything worse. I didn't know enough to do anything and didn't tell anyone in the chance that you would cut anyone off. I knew enough to know that you relayed on Yugi for a meal almost every day." I grip my pant leg and just want him to stop. Yes, he said was true, I wouldn't have stayed and out of stubbornness I would have done something really fucking stupid. Out of pride I would have done even stupider things. I'm an idiot, I thought we had already established it. I'm a love sick, irrational, idiot that can't hide anything from someone that has less than a passing interest in my life. I do stupid stuff when backed into a corner like fall for the last fucking person I should, and actually sit here and listen to them silently laugh at incompetence. I hear heartbreak is a good character builder. Two week ago I would have told him to stuff it 10 minutes ago, when he first asked.

I hate the reason I'm here. I hate that I can't do anything for myself, I have to have someone else come to my rescue. I hate that couldn't even swallow my pride enough to ask for help. But he doesn't need to explain it so cleanly, so straight in my face like that.

"One question and then can we talk about something else? Did you ever get help?" I mutter. I don't even care if it's showing weakness that I don't want to talk about it anymore. He changes position on the couch.

I feel a hand in my hair, damn it. I don't have the will power to tell him to stop, I can't even stop myself from smiling at his touch. It just feels too good. He pulls me toward him, I open my eyes and wedge myself against him and the back of the coach. He moves over a couple of inches so I'm comfortable. I lay my head on his chest, our legs intertwine and I lay my hands on his chest as well. His arms go around me, and but he continues to pet my hair. I relax against him as well. Damn it all.

"Ishzu helped me at times, made sure I was alive and at points was the only person that said a positive word to me in weeks." There is a slightly awkward pause and it doesn't seem because we're doing exactly what we did out of the closed door. I'll leave if he asks me to, but nothing else! He breaks the pause. "Joey, thank you again for those files and I'm truly terrible to you on Monday." No one is around, nothing to make him say that. I say that's an apology. It sounds better the second time, and even worse for the sane side of my mind yelling at me to leave right now. Plus there was no excuses, just an admittance of fault.

"My response is still the same, all of it." I want the last part of this conversation to happen in the back of my mind, the insane side of my mind, but it won't. An apology over something he objectively did wrong is a little different then, what amounts to, a confession. The air is a little awkward as it always seems to be after an apology. I close my eyes again, he's comfortable and I'm tired after today, emotionally and physically. I'm very much sure he's guessed my feelings towards him, and my love of having my head scratched.

"Were you really that horrible to all for your ex's? If ex is really the right term." This is a bit of loaded question, it assumes that what Mr. Crump said was true.

"The short answer to that is yes. There was nothing inherently wrong with any of them to be honest. Annoying, shallow, and boring for the most part, but nothing that deserved any of verbal abuse I put them through. It was just a way of getting what I wanted. I did state my intentions, warnings, and expectations when I got someone new but I don't think any 14 year old girl will ever believe that if you actually care what I think, you will end up in tears. I don't want to know how many girls pity dated me, tried to save me or something. Lets just say the after effects of those years I haven't really hide that well." His voice holds annoyance.

Well that was candid, now wasn't it. But I do care what he thinks, I care vastly more than it is healthy to care about anyone's opinion. Do I want to save him? Fuck no, I know I have no power over that. I know my affection will do nothing. He has issues, a fucking shit ton of them. The fact I'm laying here is one of many indicators of that, that he could even think that this was fine. I would love to be there to help him. But I am well aware of the fact that it doesn't work like that. My mother fell into that trap, a man with enough issues to think it was fine to do what he did and think that her love could do anything. His fingers run through my hair, why can't he the person he shows to the outside world? The absolutely caring, funny genius.

"It doesn't work like that. A relationship is, at best, a temporary fix to a long term problem." I think our pool game was abandoned, was that intentional or not? He was going to lose, hm, whatever. I'm fine not proving that I'm better at a game if the trade off is Seto's hand in my hair.

"Hm, I have a feeling that is coming from experience. I happen to know that there has never been a girl in your life." He didn't have to rub it in about my lack of dating life up till now. His nails scratch right above my ear, I slightly shiver in pleasure.

"Hey. Sorry I was dealing with a few things. But slightly more on topic, my mother tried to do the same thing to my father. You can see how well that ended. Lets see, my grandfather, an alcoholic, gambler, criminal. Sounds similar. " I say sleepily.

"I assume that another generation isn't going to happen." He says as in a slightly too paternal way for comfort. As if he would make it so I don't ruin my life with beer and women, or men.

"So what changed with Mai? I never heard anything about that from her. I normally heard about any fighting that happened between you two." I ask, wanting to get off the topic of my parent's relationship. It is not exactly a pleasant thing to talk about.

"She was the first to believe me, and she had just as many expectations, warnings and intentions as I did. She knew what she was getting into, and to be honest, she was the first girl I had dated that I respected. She saw the relationship as a business deal, and I respected that. I gave her the arm candy she wanted, she gave me the arm candy I wanted. The time commitment was minimal and she demanded what she wanted. It was a physical and financial affair that worked beautifully for both us. We got along well enough to not annoy each other, Mokuba liked her well enough, and she just left me alone for the most part. Before you ask, yes, a shocking number of my exes really didn't like Mokuba." That is not me, I have no idea what I want, but I know I don't want what I will getting into. Even that's a lie. I want the person Seto is right now, a person that will just talk about stuff with me. That I can be honest with, I won't have to fear being criticized for weakness. Unfortunately that isn't person that Seto is, the minute he gets stressed, threatened, frustrated, the person that will insult the exact thing that will hurt me most will come out. I won't be about to relax, show weakness around him, show that I do need help, because that weakness will be used against me somehow. Manipulation, or purely just stress relief, and I will want more of his time then he'll give me.

"My expectations weren't exactly fair to begin with for a 14 year old girl to actually fulfill. I can't really expect a teenage girl, or most people it seems, to let go of their romance novel ideas. No, I'm not the lead in their romance novel. They're not about be the exception to the rule." He says with a little distain in his voice. I know you're not that lead in my romance novel, I never wanted you to be and I know I'm not the exception to the rule. I just want someone that I can be honest with, is it really that much to ask? Maybe tell me that everything is going to be ok without any idea what is bothering me, even if I won't admit it to myself. I want to believe that we would have left the restaurant even if his ex didn't show up, ever dish tasted gross to me. He has too much power over me, and, again, I am not the exception to rule. That still isn't sinking in, I still would put on that collar and let Seto do exactly what he wants.

"Would you date anyone romantically? Would you be the lead to any one's romance novel? I should ask, is there an exception to the rule? Mai told me you had a crush." I ask, half joking about the romance novel part. I nussle a little closer, he smells really good right now. He smiles a weak smile at my question. He pulls hair in to my eyes.


	47. Chapter 47

"Define romantically dating." Ok?

"Take them on cute dates, compliment them just because, listen to their day if they want, let them find roses on their side table because they looked exceptionally nice that day. If they're having a hard time for someone tell them it is going to be fine, maybe they will have the power to tell you to go to bed when you need to."Shit! My mouth almost got ahead my brain, the next line would have been 'trust them enough to show weakness'. I want someone to trust, to not be judged, crossed, to just have someone hug me and tell me that is everything is going to be ok. Yes I fell for the last person that can give that, I fucking know that.

"Interesting definition, I'll add one to it, make sure they don't get hurt. From themselves or anyone else, if you can help it." He says, but something is weird about his voice, sadness maybe.

"Are you part of the anyone else?" I ask, a little sarcastically. His hand close around my hair, pulling it slightly.

"Yes. The cute dates, the compliments, listening to their day, putting a rose on their bedsides table, and telling them everything is going to be ok is the easy part. I would even listen if they told me to go to bed. Belittling them, insulting, gas-lighting, and manipulating them into the shell of the person I first fell for would be a little harder. I would love to be the lead in their romance novel, but an exception to the rule? No, or I should say, I don't want to find out if there isn't. Mostly I don't want to find out if there will be a gritty sequel." I pet his sweater, thought so. I want to comfort him, tell him I doubt it. But that is fucking lie and I know it. I know it very well. If he was as bad as I think, no, I would wish a relationship like that on no one.

There is a reason that its called the cycle of abuse. They make you love them, they are everything that you want and much more. You don't know how you got so lucky. Then they start to belittle you, start to slowly pick at your self-confidence, your self-assurance, your identity. In the beginning, you fight it. You fight the rules, the regulation, and the criticism. But then they play the victim, 'my family beat me so I can't trust you, I want to trust you but I can't'. So you don't fight so hard. You soon start to agree with the rules, you shouldn't be talking to your opposite gender co-worker unless necessary. You're right that my same gender friend wasn't nice to you, and you're more important so I'll cut them out of my life. You soon lose your friends, get isolated from your family. Then you threaten to leave, they get a job, they stop drinking so much, they actually watch the kid when you ask them to. They become the person you fell in love with. Then they talk you into having another child, tying you down a little more. Even if you can't really afford it because they never have a constant job. But they say this one will stick. Accident child number one wasn't enough, the shotgun wedding wasn't enough. The cycle continues. This time you have to cover bruises, accident child number one has to cover bruises, of course they doesn't think to touch the on purpose child. You would actually leave if he did that. Inside you feel that you deserve all of it, absolutely all of it. You can only hope that there will come a day that enough will be enough, he hits a little too hard, you've been without for a little long, you have just a few too many bruises to hide them all. But he has all the money, since your money is his money and his money is his money. You can only take one child, the child that isn't failing almost every subject, that isn't getting into fights every other day, the child that hasn't been suspended from school, the child that didn't almost get expelled because someone insulted their hobby, and lastly the child that doesn't look almost exactly like them and getting closer every day. But, but...

Maybe it would be doable, maybe Seto would never actually lay a hand on me, he can't tie me down with children, I doubt we wouldn't have food in the house because he's off drinking. Instead he's in his office, he's in his study, he's drawing blueprints for his next big invention, and all you want is 5 minutes of his attention. Even if he's yelling at you for bothering him, even if he's yelling at you because you don't contribute anything, even if he's yelling at you because you're shirt isn't tucked in. Where he reminds you every time you want dinner, lunch, coffee in his office, to cuddle, a small kiss, a second glance, how you can't afford anything without him. Every time you make him a latte, and you slightly burn the milk, you leave his office nursing a coffee burn, and a dark feeling that you can't do anything right. Lastly every time you tell him that you're too tired tonight, just not tonight, we did it yesterday, oh wait, you can't say no to him. He owns everything, you are not equal partners. But every birthday, every Christmas, every Valentine's day, he'll be the person you fell hard for. The sweet, affectionate, attentive, happy person you fell for, every holiday promising to clear his schedule a little, and just like clockwork you fall, you fall hard all over again. You can put up with it again, because you're addicted to that smile, laugh, his passion, and because it's not that bad. You're not hungry, you're not cold, he never hit you, he doesn't drink, and because all he's doing is making your life possible. You shouldn't bother him, you were selfish anyway. You shouldn't have burned the milk, it was stupid of you. You've done a million times before, you should know better. He loves you, his way of showing it is providing all the fun toys you can imagine. Maybe it would be doable.

"Tell me about them, I assume you think they're pretty special." I ask as his nail feel amazing on the top of head, I have no idea why but head scratches make me clay in his hands. I have to swallow a moan.

"We have the generic answers to that question, gorgeous, funny, smart, kind. Then we have the slightly less generic answers to that question, absurdly loyal to their friends, a positive demeanor no matter the circumstance, will drop whatever is their problem to help anyone. I have my doubts that they can actually be cold hearted. But mostly, they're the strongest person I know. They don't give up when their life gets hard, they don't give in to temptation, and they hold on to hope. They look at a situation and just do what needs to be done so they don't inconvenience anyone. Lastly, they're fiercely independent. They hate having to rely on someone, and will make sure it appears that everything is fine." I'm not smart, attractive, or that funny. So, I can cross that weird dimension that Seto had a crush on me off my list. I wasn't holding my breath in hopes that he would have a crush on me, I knew he didn't. What hell type of person would do what he did and have a crush on that person? A mad man, that's who. The crush, they sound lovely and almost the exact opposite of Seto. What strikes really is just how sad his voice is. This isn't a new infatuation. He sighs.

"That kind of makes them out to be someone that would actually put their self worth in my opinion of them, actually give a shit about what I think of them. I'm not saying they're perfect. They're not. Even so, they have an inability to see what is actually in front of them. They're amazing, but they don't see that at all." That is sort shocking, I wouldn't expect Seto to fall for someone with self esteem issues. Also, I see what is in front of me, a penniless, weak, nothing special. His arms pull me closer.

"And only a narcissist would think that they wouldn't fall back into bad habits. Mai never cared about anything you said, never put any of her self worth into your opinion of her, so if you criticized her dress, her make up, her whatever, she more then likely just laughed. But if you were actually dating, I kind of hope that your significant other would at least take into account your opinion." I say quietly.

"True, but I wasn't finished with that sentence. Instead I would knowingly do everything in my power to keep them from seeing anything. A compliment means nothing if they don't believe it." A shiver goes done my spine at that, no I wouldn't want a relationship like that for anyone. Who intentionally doesn't give affection? That I know of, my father.

"Two questions: Why, assuming you know why you do anything? How long have you pined for this person? The way you talk about them sounds like you've thought about this for a while, meaning that this isn't new. You 'dated' Mai while pinning after someone else." I ask.

"I would fear that they would leave me if they actually woke up the fact that they could have any one they wanted. They wouldn't want to deal with missed dinners, broken promises, forgotten birthdays, badly phased comments, and the constant attempts to make up for that. Attempts that I know that they don't care about at all. I would constantly be falling short of what they deserved, 'sorry' can only go so far when this is fifth time this month that I had to cancel dinner, the fourth time I reenforced their self doubt by saying the exact wrong thing, and the seventh time I accidentally took advantage of them. 'It's fine' can only be said just so many time before they leave." Emotional manipulation just so they don't leave. I don't envy whoever he is crushing on.

"The other question, you're not as oblivious as I thought." I stick my tongue out like a 2 year old.

"4 years. They're the only person I've ever felt anything to above sexual attraction. I do think about what a relationship would be like with them. I'm not immune to a little fantasy, cute dates to the garden, cuddling on the couch on a friday night after work, trying to make each other laugh, figuring what to get them for their birthday. Which would be a headache. I can count on one hand how many sexual fantasies I've had with them." He says simply. Wow. When Seto likes someone, he really fucking likes someone. I envy this person for that ability.

"4 years, damn, you really get into someone if you get into them. One hand, eh? Right or left? Do tell. But first, do you have any idea about how they feel about you?" He actually smiles at my perversion of his turn of phrase. Deep question, will he tell me to shut up soon or will he continue to humor my questions? His hand stops petting my head. Oh, I was enjoying that. Did I ask the wrong question?

"First, I didn't even think of that. Second, I'll answer them in the order they were asked. mostly cuddling and taking a bath with them. The fantasy you came up with this afternoon, I would but it wouldn't be my first choice." His hand starts to play with my hair again as he answers my intrusive questions. My fantasy was just a little off now wasn't it, but I'm not the person he's talking about.

"If sex gets into my fantasies they normally involve more blushing, kissing, and gentle touching, not to say they wouldn't look sexy in a collar, handcuffed to a bed. Or at the very least, I'm not about to ask for anything like that before they've even had sex." He knows a lot about this person, even if they're a virgin or not. That one I do fit. He continues.

"The next question, I wish I didn't know how they feel." His voice holds regret of some sort. So they don't feel the same way, I feel vaguely bitter sweet about that. Not because it gives me any hope of taking their place, an unhealthy crush is still going to be unhealthy no matter if there is another person in the picture or not. But because I wish happiness on Seto. Also I can't help but, stupidly, fall a little harder for him. He gives two shits about this person, or, enough to realize that that person wouldn't be happy with him. I know he won't get any comfort over the fact that I care about him, I want to see him happy, relaxed, the slightly childish Seto Kaiba that challenged me to game of pool then didn't let me actually win. The person that will talk about flowers, robots, random shit. The person that will smile at me like he doesn't even realize there is a smile there, lastly the person that won't ask why I didn't tell because he already knows. I have nothing to do with his happiness. He pulls me a little closer.

Hopefully you had fun with that chapter.


	48. Chapter 48

"So the mighty CEO of Kaiba corp can't get anyone he wants, or the only person he wants. Must be a hit to your ego, since they sound wonderful." I say. He pulls my hair, just hard enough that it hurts slightly. That might have been a little too far to make fun of his affections toward his crush for four years.

"I think I've established that it would cruel to ever ask someone to deal with half the bullshit I would put them through. It would take a narcissist to ask that, to think that putting up with someone that can't keep dates, will not spare your feeling in anyway, will at points intentionally make you not see what is in front of you, for what? What is so special about me? Nothing you care about." He says with a voice full of frustration. You? As in...I open my eyes and look up at him. My heart accelerating by the nanosecond, please don't be. The gears slowly turning as he just figure out what he just let slip. He never intended to let me know.

"You were never going to see it. It probably never crossed your mind that anyone could like you." He says simply. My heart speeds up and my palms starts to sweat. I scurry to the other side of the coach and just stare, wide eyed at him. What? Why? My head spins a little at the questions wracking around in my brain. Why would he do this? What did he think I was going to do if he told me before now? Does he actually want to continue even after this?

I can feel hot tears forming while my blood runs cold when what he actually did comes front and center. When I hit rock bottom, when I just needed a safe place to stay, he took advantage of my situation. When I needed something stable, he gave me a hologram that I couldn't refuse. Then he claims to actually give two shits about me. Manipulation for his own selfish means. I don't play the victim, but even I know that isn't something you do someone you claim to care about.

"No!" I mutter mostly to myself. That makes these two weeks premeditated manipulation. He knew I couldn't say no, he knew that I was broke, injured. He knew fucking everything, yet he still forced me into this. Then he claims to care about me, or at least the idea of me. Then he told me...everything. Why? Only a mad man would do that. Force the person they claim to care about into a charade that I didn't have a choice about, first of all, second of all, hated. It was better than the alternative. I feel the tears form, my heart start to get heavy. This also means that he was telling the truth, everything was the truth. He gave me the house, food, clothing, medical bills, everything that I could need, because he cared. This also means that it was giving to me with no strings attached, just like he said. My hands start to shake, my heart escalates to an uncomfortable level, and my stomach clenches painfully. When I needed someone to just force help on to me, when I needed him, when I needed someone to look out for me to give me a safe place to stay, yes he came through but it was conditional. He reneged on his word when it mattered the most. Yet, yet, I have to trust him not to pull everything out from under me at a moments notice. My breathing speeds up.

"Answer me this, I don't care why you did it or what twisted logic you use to think what you've done in the past two weeks was a good idea, how the fuck can I trust you to keep your word? How the fuck can I trust that my fridge will full, I won't get kicked out of my house, my debit card won't be closed at a moments notice? Your word means nothing it seems, you only keep promises when its not getting in the way of what? I don't actually fucking know to be honest, I didn't sleep you." I say not even trying to hide my anger or spare his feelings. He flinches at every word. He looks up at me, but doesn't look me in the eye. His shoulder slump, he clenches and releases his fist.

He doesn't answer me. The sickest thing is right now I want to tell him that everything is going to be ok, I want to tell him that I can trust him. That we live in a romance and that loves makes everything better. By not answering he's admitted he's wrong, isn't that enough? For what? A kind, funny, charming genius, that will work himself to an early death to make his company thrive, that will do whatever it takes to protect his little brother and give him the best life he can give him. Knowledge that I will have food in my fridge, clothing on my back, a warm bed to sleep in. What is a few harsh words?

"Whatever you're thinking doing don't. Why did I do it? For what means? I wanted to be the lead in your romance. You couldn't say no to anything I did outside of closed door, I could spend as much as I want on you, dote on you as I saw fit, kiss you, try to make you laugh, try to make you smile. I thought that you'd hate me and I was fine with that. I got my fantasy, and the knowledge that you're safe, you have a house, clothing, food, and pocket money to spend. How can you trust me to not pull everything out from under you if, lets say, you don't sleep with me? Correct me if I'm wrong." He says like he say almost everything, in a monotone.

My heart speeds up even more, my breathing becomes shallow, and my fists clench. I don't comprehend what is front me, he can't do that! He said two weeks and then I get everything. No, he just can't. NO!

"My word means nothing to you, and anything legal means nothing as well. If I decided that I don't want to pay anymore unless you sleep with me, no lawyer will go up against me. And if you ask for help, you'll have to tell. You'll have to answer, 'Why didn't you ask before?'. You'll have face Yugi, Yami, everyone else you call a friend, that yes you sometimes couldn't get to sleep because it hurt to much." I can barely see anything in front of me when my eyes are fully open, all I hear is his voice explaining plainly my situation to me. No, I can't go back! I just can't, I don't care anymore about pride, ethics, I have food, clothing, a warm bed, friends. I don't have to deal with my father anymore, he can't touch me here. I find that I'm shaking. The worry, the stress, everything starts to come back. How I used to always be hungry, tired, no, I can't go back. I can't go back to the screams, the moans, the pain, the lies. No. My nails dig into my hand as I clench my fists harder. I can't go back to that.

"Promise you'll be gentle the first time." I beg without thinking, my breathing still heavy. He pulls my hair out of my face ever so gently. Our eyes meet, all I see is guilt, and shame.

"Would it matter if I wasn't? You won't be hungry, you wouldn't be cold, you would have clothing, you would be taken care of, you wouldn't have to lie about where that new bruise came from. What's a few a nights that in back of your mind you want anyway?" he asks apathetically.

"No. It wouldn't matter, I would even enjoy it." I admit barely audibly. My heart's still pounding in my chest to the point of pain. He sighs.

"You can't afford to say no to me, to take the chance that I'm serious. You have too much to lose. Unless you can support yourself, you'll live in fear of my whims. This isn't a romance novel, love doesn't make everything better. In this case, I'm sorry doesn't even make a dent." He gets up from the couch and puts our pool cues away. My hair falls back in my face. My breathing still rapid and shallow and I feel something wet on my hands.

"Seto..." I start not really knowing what to say to him since my mind is still drowning in new information. No, love doesn't make everything better. Love makes everything worse. Love makes this obsession, loves makes this cruel manipulation. Loves makes this madness. Without that, he is the exact person I thought he was, a psychopathic CEO that prays on the weak and this was a business deal. Love makes this personal, this has stopped being a business deal. I have to trust him unless I have to face my father or the guilty faces of my friends. He turns to face me from the cue holder.

"I'll take you back to the house that I gave you tomorrow. You don't not trust me, and I'm not going to ask that you do, but I just hope that living in fear under me is a big enough improvement so that you stay where I put you. At the very least, I've never hit you." My head is dizzy, starts to throb, the lights seems to bright, my stomach wants to empty, something drips on my pants, I don't seem to get enough air. He turns towards the door. My chest hurts, it feels like it was ripped shreds and it weights four tons. I feel a pressure behind my eyes. He can't leave yet!

"I gave you your fantasy, give me mine. We're not done with this romance, the curtains haven't faded to black." I say to his back with a quiver in my voice. He stops and turns back to me. His eyes are filled with frustration, sadness, guilt, shame, and something else that I haven't ever seen before.

"No, your fade to black shouldn't be with me. I thought I established that. What I've done in the past two weeks is cruel and unforgivable. I used my money, and your desperation to force you into something that you hated. I thought that you'd hate me, resent me, take without reservation. I might even say that falling for me was even more cruel. Even knowing that, if I could trust that your emotions weren't just Stockholm Syndrome mixed with desperation, and 17 year old hormones, I would. Mostly I can't tell if you're doing this out of fear or desire." What stopped you before? When I want something you don't give it me, yet when I don't you'll happily do what the fuck you want? My brows come together, can he stop thinking he knows what is best for me? The sane part of my brain is yelling in agreement, he is fucking right and the self-preservation side knows it. I blink, and feel a wet, hot tear fall down my cheek. God damn it, I thought I wouldn't cry over this asshole.

"I know, I know god damn it. But that doesn't fucking mean I don't want to, I want to make it doable. You would never hit me, I would never go hungry, you can't get me pregnant, I wouldn't be cold, I would have all the material things I could dream about, instead I would have deal with rules, regulations, control and paranoia. You would dangle your affection in front me if I didn't do what you wanted, I would always fear that you wouldn't want me anymore that I'd lose my appeal to you. Even so I would always be asking for 5 minutes of your time, even if it was you yelling at me for bothering you, yelling at me because I don't contribute anything, yelling at me because my socks don't match. Where you remind me every time I ask for you to clear your schedule so that we can have dinner, lunch, coffee together that I can't afford anything without you. Every time I screw up making you a latte, I'll leave your office with a coffee burn and a feeling that I can't do anything right and that you just put up with me. 'Not tonight' wouldn't happen. We would never be equal partners. But every time you actually clear your schedule, you just drink my screw up and tell me it was tasty, I fall hard all over again. But since I'm not hungry, I don't have any bruises, I'm not cold, I have everything I could want, its fine. I shouldn't have bothered you, I should know how to make coffee, it was selfish and stupid. Lastly, you deserved last night. That isn't any relationship, that isn't doable. So, why does it feel it could be?" I finally just let my tears fall down my face. Heartbreak isn't character building, it's absolute hell. I grip my pant leg, gasp for air as I weep right in front of him and stare down at my hand as they shake. Blood from my nails oozing out of the wounds. My chest feels on fire, yet my blood feels cold in my veins and my lungs aren't working properly. What he did wasn't sane, no one uses their money so that someone will have a fake relationship with you without any hope of making it real. Not sex, not anything past making out, just so they can dote on the other person without reservation or letting the other person ruining their fun. That isn't fucking sane. No one manipulated their obsession for that past 4 years into a fake relationship because they can't say no, they have to go along with your fantasy. Without any hope that they would feel the same way. Without any hope that relationship would ever be a good idea, healthy. Why do I want this very very flawed person? Why am I crying over him?

I hope that was more fun than the last chapter.


	49. Chapter 49

The coach moves as Seto takes a seat.

"Puppy..." He says quietly. A shiver of pleasure goes down my spine from hearing that. I wipe away a few tears so that I can see, it hurts from the salt, and look at him. He seems a little unsure of himself for once in his life.

"That isn't a relationship, that isn't doable and that's the reality. So until sunday morning, lets live a fantasy." he says just as quietly. I try to wipe away the tear from my eyes so that I can see at all. The pain in my chest wanes a little and my breathing starts to deepen. Fantasy, where Seto and I could ever have a healthy relationship. Fantasy, what we live outside of closed doors. Fantasy, where Seto is the kind, caring, funny, genius that I fell for, he's the person that I made out with in the park.

"Fantasy, where we could work." I respond, my lungs finally expanding to their carrying capacity. My stomach not wanting to empty it's self anymore and my head seems to be on straight. I take a breath and yawn. I'm still slightly shaking, but that always seems to happen after crying. I lay on my head on Seto's lap and hope that he continues to play with my hair.

"Yes, where we could actually work." Luckily he continues to play with my hair.

"Where do we start? I expect that I get to take a bath with you." I ask sleepily.

"Bed, I'm going to go put you to bed after cleaning your hands." Oh those.

"Your's? Would you force your puppy to sleep in a big bed by himself one more night?" I pout.

"My bed is a bit big." he ponders. I finally smile at the thought of getting to have Seto's warm body against mine for the night. I get off the couch and off of Seto. My legs seem a little like jello. So when I take a step, I stumble. Luckily Seto catches me. I stumble again when I take another step. I'm also shaking pretty violently still. A second later, an arm goes under my knees and the other supports my back. I quickly wrap my arms around Seto's neck and, enamor at how happy he is right now.

"You're lighter than I thought you'd be." He says. I lay my head on his shoulder. I feel safe in his arms, I feel happy in his arms. My heart pounds in my chest, but this time it's a pleasant pounding. One of anticipation and a maybe a few nerves thrown in there for good measure. This is still unhealthy, childish, and can only hurt both of us, but heartbreak is livable. I've gone through worse than falling for the wrong person, or maybe the right person and just the wrong time?

"Why, do you want me to gain weight? " I say jokingly. I get the door out of the room.

"In all honesty, yes. You've never eaten properly from what I know, and I'm pretty sure you're underweight." He shift my weight slightly. I sigh.

"Anything else you want me to do?" I shoot back.

"Go to a dentist, doctor, and lastly a therapist." He say bluntly. Oh, that. Therapy. I open the door to his bedroom. Seto obviously took the master bedroom of the house and it shows. My entire ex-apartment could fit into a half of this room, and about three times bigger than the room I'm staying in right now. The grandness, luxury and overindulgence can't really be compared to anything I've actually seen and just read about in a history book. Large windows look out over the perfectly manicured gardens, trimmed with heavy curtains, and a door to the balcony too. A carved four poster bed sits against the wall looking like it will never get moved again with heavy intricate curtains tied back with metallic looking braids. There are two doors, a double door and a singe one. Both have carved gold handles with a white background for the gold. The walls are comparatively plain without any carvings, just golden molding, but the hardwood floors make up for that with almost dizzily complex square geometric pattern. He carries me over to the bathroom and carefully places on my feet on the floor. The bathroom is just as grand as the bedroom, and seems no ever lives here. Instead of hardwood floors, marble. He go over to the mirror and presses the corner for the behind mirror cupboard. On the shelfs only seem to be headache, allergy, two bottles of something prescription, neosporin, gauze and bandaids, damn nothing embarrassing. He grabs the gauze and neosporin. I take a seat on side of the free standing, golden claw-foot tub. Everything seems a little unreal right now. Seto wets a monogramed towel in one the two sinks. He gestures for one my hands. I extend one and he so gently cradles my hand.

"Therapy...where I tell someone else my fucked up childhood." I say mostly to myself. Sounds like fun, reliving everything all over again. A warm cloth strokes my hand as Seto ever so carefully wipes away the blood.

"It does help to tell someone, Joey. It really does." He half begs. He grabs another towel and drys my left hand. Help what an idea.

"I'm going to assume that comes from experience." As much as the image of Seto spilling his guts to someone on a couch is unreal and a little funny to think about.

"Admitting that everything is too much isn't weakness." he says wrapping my hand in gauze. I did a number on my hand. How the fuck will I explain that one to Yugi or Yami? Oh, ya, I didn't notice how hard I was digging my nails into my hand because I too preoccupied by the fact that I fell for a psycho. That will go over well with them I bet. Which brings to me why did I react so strongly to his situation? Why did the idea of sleeping with him make me go into a tail spin? I would have happily three hours ago, why does the fact that our feeling are mutual make it any different?

"Recommendations?" I ask, giving him my other hand.

"Yes, since you don't have a job, I assume that you're pretty free." He says as he again washes and wraps my hand up. I nod. He throws the towels in the laundry chute near the door. Then he grabs an unopened toothbrush and toothpaste from top drawer and hands it to me.

"I don't want my puppy's teeth to rot." He says as he prepares his toothbrush.

I brush my teeth next to him, half expecting him to wait for me to finish. I don't know, brushing your teeth isn't exactly a clean process. We spit and clean our toothbrushes, floss and he forces mouthwash on me. I didn't know that my breath was issue before now.

When we go back in the main bedroom, he opens the double doors to a walk in closet only about quarter filled with only about three different outfits. A lot of black pants, black shirts, a few belts, a few school uniforms, and three pairs of pajamas. Seto hands me an extra pair of pajamas, they're blue and very silky, almost slippery in my hand. Then he pulls off his shirt, not in a lets-do-this sort of way. I can see every well toned muscle, professional sculpted abs, laser cut pectorals. There are many more scars then I originally thought, a flurry doesn't do just the sheer number of scars justice, a blizzard is more accurate. Some barely visible even with the bright lights in Seto's bedroom if it weren't for the fact they are lighter then the surrounding skin. All of them almost perfectly straight, Seto didn't fight when getting any of them. None of them couldn't be hidden with a t-shirt easily. His thin, graceful but powerful arms have nothing on them, just beautifully white skin that obviously doesn't see the sun much. He wears every scar with a non-so-quiet confidence. I feel a little creepy right now. Unfortunately he covers it with an identical blue pajama top. Then his pants come off and beautiful, white legs. They're still covered in scars, some pretty deep but all still perfectly straight.

Why would someone ever do that? He doesn't comment on me slightly staring at him. He just climbs in his overly large bed.

I pull off shirt and hoodie off and I can just feel his eyes on me, on every bone, every nonexistent muscle, and lastly every scar. How did I get into this position? Why did he ever fall for me? My personality isn't that good and its really only a matter of time that he realizes that he only likes the ideas of me. I'm not half of what he says I am, but for the next two days, lets pretend that I am. I pull on his shirt, roll up the sleeves a little and pull off my pants. I still feel his eyes on me as I pull on his pajama pants.

Finally I crawl under the covers of his bed. He wasn't kidding when he said he has room for two. Plus the fluffy pillows, high thread count sheets, and luxury duvet, I think this maybe the nicest bed I've ever slept in. His heart slightly speeds up while I get myself comfortable, but soon it decreases to it's normal pace. My head lays on his chest, and his arms are around my waist. I'm happy, safe, fed and warm. Lastly, loved in a very strange way. I close my eyes.

"Puppy, can I ask you something?"

"Sure?" What could he ask me? My life isn't very interesting.

"How much sense has it ever made that I ever paid attention to you, that this was a publicity stunt?" I sigh. He never paid attention to any girl in our class, he might have paid more attention to me than to his girl friend most of the time. Damn it!

"Not much, can we stop rubbing it in that I'm an idiot." I say. He rolls over, my head is now resting on his bisect and we're face to face now.

"Not my point Joey. If you must know, you're almost the exact person I thought you were. I did underestimate just how little you think of yourself. You're not who your mother thinks you are, do you really think I'd for fall someone that I couldn't have a conversation with?"

"No." I say sleepily.

"Night, I'll be here when you wake up. So, no sleeping all day."

"Night, I have work in the morning anyway." I retort back, I drift off to sleep, not before taking one more whiff of his heavenly scent.

Just a little happier.


End file.
